Antoinette Frazier Dunham This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. The Beaufort Gazette: Destiny and reality
   Young couple's love pulling them through hard times

   www.beaufortgazette.com/localn - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/7/2001   Last Visited: 10/9/2001

   Each day starts out pretty much the same , Dunham said.
   
   First it's a 30-minute commute from the apartment in Savannah to Frazier's mother's house in Bluffton.
   ...
   Dunham usually stays at a friend's home until he picks up his family from Okatie Academy. He drops his daughter at his mother-in-law's house and he and his wife head to McDonald's in Bluffton about 5 p.m. Because of the drive , he said , he just doesn't have the energy to go back to Savannah until it's time to go to work.
   
   Dunham said he is looking for an eight-hour job. Other jobs he's had in the past didn't fit with his family's schedule.
   
   I used to work at Target , he said. But they wanted me to come in early , and there was no way I could take my wife to school..
   
   At McDonald's , Dunham operates a cash register and his wife works the drive-through. Sometimes they leave work as late as 11 : 30 p.m. , which means they'll get back to their apartment about12 : 30. Then at 4 : 30 the next morning it starts all over again.
   
   Life changes
   
   I didn't picture life to be like this four years ago , Dunham said. Before he dropped out of Hilton Head High School , he dreamed of playing college football and majoring in criminal justice.
   
   Dunham met his wife in 1998 at a football game. They began a relationship that summer and , shortly after , Frazier became pregnant.
   
   ...
   I'm very proud of my son for being the father that he is , and I hope he and Antoinette have a happy life together and that God continues to bless them , she said.
   
   ...
   Jarrez and I aren't financially situated to provide a stable home for Destiny , Antoinette said.
   ...
   It's a tragic situation for a young family to try so hard and not be able to make it economically , said Theodocia Jean Francis-Cosby , director of Okatie Academy where Antoinette attends school. Cosby said it points up the fact that it takes more than physical maturity to raise a family.
   
   This recent development of temporary custody illustrates the direct impact that teen pregnancy has on two young people who are physically capable of bearing a child , but not emotionally , mentally or financially able to handle the responsibility , she said.
   
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