Giving Someone Hard Hitting News

The other Wes Moore needed to tell his mother that he got Alicia pregnant. Have you ever had to give someone news that you knew would break their heart? How did you build up the courage?

Wes is slowly growing fond of the quiet suburban neighborhood but still misses the speed and intensity of the city. One of the girls he meets on the school bus is Alicia. They quickly become close and two months later she discovers she is pregnant. Wes is in denial at first, shocked and confused. While teenage pregnancies are common in Baltimore, Wes is not happy and the idea of becoming a father. Alicia is confident that she can raise the baby in a two-parent household with stability to be different from what she and West did not have. Since Wes grew up without a father, he is anxious and uncertain that he will be a good one. “The idea of becoming a father depressed Wes, but he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t have to worry about feeling alone or like a pariah. Wes and Alicia’s situation was anything but exceptional.” (Moore 100.)

Alicia’s pregnancy forces the other Wes Moore to change his life and shift his priorities. He needs to rethink his priorities, and what is most important to him, and put in the work to do better. After telling Wes’s mother, Mary, what happened, she is understanding and still offers everyone cake despite being disappointed with him repeating the cycle of teen pregnancy. She was pregnant with Wes’s older brother, Tony, at a young age as well. She is upset, but she understands that these things happen.

I do not remember the last time I had someone's news that broke their heart, knowing that it would affect them that way. I have definitely done it accidentally, as my filter can often falter. Though, when telling someone something hard I struggle with trying to build up the courage. I have gotten better at it recently, through years of therapy and self-reflection, though I used to keep all hard information locked away in fear of hurting the other person. Soon, I came to realize that it hurts the other person more by keeping it from them instead of simply telling them. While it may feel harder at the moment, it will be beneficial in the future to tell them. Whenever I encounter something difficult, I have to remind myself of that. I am working towards making my life in the future easier, even if it is harder at the moment.

One quote I like to live by is “All pleasure now,” by Phil Lester, 

a British commentary YouTuber who has been battling with 

chronic illnesses for 18+ years. While he insists that we should 

be enjoying each moment, this can also be taken 

in the opposite direction. We should be putting ourselves in 

uncomfortable situations that we need to be in, to make 

our future easier.

I knew that telling my father the news that I was queer would ruin his perception of me to an extent, and forever change our relationship, but I needed to do it. All pleasure now. Everything now. I built up the courage by reminding myself that I am doing this to be better in the future. I do everything for my future, while still making an effort to live in the present.