SHE PUT HER KIDS FIRST, OVER AND OVER

The size and structure of Bonnie Tidmore’s stomach is forever changed after her two pregnancies. The older the 40-year-old gets, the more she feels she can embrace the marks her children, 14 and 21, left her. She has made a lot of choices thinking of what her two kids needed most instead of herself, including finding an apartment in an environment that allowed them to thrive. She was 20 when she delivered her daughter. It was a lot harder for her then. She didn’t have the same stability or knowledge of parenting, and looking back she is beyond proud of making it through. She feels blessed because her kids are continually achieving success. Her daughter Malya Parker just wrapped up her third year at California State University Long Beach while also working as the lead cashier at Bath and Body Works. Her son, Kalib Eldrege, graduated middle school with high grades.