A 23-year-old woman from Johnson County, Indiana, thought she had her life mapped out.
For Paige Bramlett, “plan A” looked like getting married, buying a house and having children.
“It wasn’t just a checklist to me,” Bramlett told Newsweek. “I genuinely wanted the partnership that came with it—the person beside you for the ordinary days, the hard days, the school drop-offs, the holidays, all of it.”
Instead, her life took a U-turn when she met a boy in her kindergarten class, who would later become her son.
Bramlett had been hired to work exclusively with William during the school day, meaning much of her role revolved around supporting him through successes and challenges.
“What drew me to him was that there was so much more to him than what people might have seen on the surface,” Paige explained. “He was funny, smart, strong-willed and full of personality. I learned what made him laugh, what overwhelmed him, and what helped him feel safe.”
But being just 23 and living with her parents, becoming a mom was far from Paige’s thoughts.
The shift came when William’s case worker came to the school.
She learned that he was in need of a new placement and that those involved hoped it would be his final move before adoption.
Having already formed a strong bond with him, she said she felt drawn to ask more questions and explore whether there was a way she could step in and support him.
“So that’s what I did,” Paige said.
At 23, she became his foster placement. She wasn’t married, didn’t own a house, and felt as though she wasn’t ready.
“I didn’t have some beautiful, put-together life that made me feel qualified to become a foster parent,” Paige said. “I knew how to sit beside him at school. I knew how to get through a hard morning with him. I knew how to make him laugh. But bringing him home and becoming responsible for everything was completely different.”
Shortly after fostering William, Paige got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Leni.
Becoming a solo mother of two was exhausting in ways she never imagined.
“I think the hardest part was how constant it was,” Paige said. “One minute I was helping with school or walking one of them through a hard moment, and the next I was changing a diaper, making dinner or trying to get someone to sleep.”
“There were plenty of nights where the house was finally quiet and I would just sit there thinking, ‘How am I doing all of this?’” she said.
But somehow, she muddled through. She got better at trusting herself, letting go of the small things, and realized that a good home does not have to look picture-perfect.
“I still want love. I still want marriage. I still hope there is someone who will one day step into this life with us and want to build something alongside me,” Paige said. “Being grateful for the family I have now does not mean I stopped wanting that.”
For others who feel like their life isn’t going exactly to plan, Paige, now 30, believes it is possible to feel disappointed about certain things while still appreciating what you have.
Gratitude and longing can exist side by side.
“If your life looks nothing like the version you pictured… do not assume that means you missed your life,” she said. “God can still do something really beautiful in the middle of a story that feels completely different than the one you planned.”
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Sirena Bergman and Paul Donnelley.