Unwed: A Mother's Journey

Unwed is the story of Ruth Kilmer, a Mississippi school teacher who had to make a complicated decision when she found herself pregnant and out of wedlock in 1962. The story chronicles the events that led to Ruth’s untimely pregnancy and the decisions she had to make regarding what to do with an unwanted child. As the daughter of a prominent Methodist minister in a small town near Jackson, Ruth was faced with an enormously difficult decision. Revealing her pregnancy could have cost her a career in the teaching profession and would have diminished the stature of her father in the local and state religious communities. She ultimately made the decision to disappear, as many others did in those days, under cover of a lie. Ruth and her family told the story that she was going away for graduate school for a year; in truth, she lived alone for the duration of the pregnancy and eventually left the baby at an orphanage in New Orleans. Thirty-five years later, Ruth decides to find the baby boy she left in Louisiana. The crucible of the story lies in her anguish and the effect her decision to find him has on her, her family in Mississippi, and on the boy who is now a grown man. Her pursuit in finding him and the interactions she has with his family provide a glimpse into the complexities of opening the Pandora’s Box for everyone involved. The story has a number of unexpected turns, one during her time alone in New Orleans when she contemplates suicide and another when Ruth becomes very ill and the two world’s collide as her son comes to her near the end of her life. In the background throughout the story is the man who fathered the child and his incessant pursuit of Ruth throughout their lives. The story is a story of unexpected circumstances, anguish and loneliness, the effect of secrets, openness, and closure. The undergirding message is the presence of God in the lives of the main characters and how prayer, faith, and love can see God’s people through the most complicated circumstances. Main characters include: Ruth; her two parents and immediate family in Mississippi (three children she did not put up for adoption); Matthew (child put up for adoption); his family (wife and two children); and his parents. The story is a snap shot of time in the 1960s, fast forwarding to the late 1990s and concluding in the early 2000s.