Summary of Janelle Hanchett's I'm Just Happy to Be Here

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 I was pregnant with my first child, and I smoked a cigarette on the balcony of our one-bedroom apartment. I had never been the type of person who wanted company in moments of vulnerability, so I was alone to deal with the situation.

#2 I had unprotected sex with my boyfriend when I was eighteen, and I knew immediately that I would not have a baby. I felt relief, but also sadness. I did not feel guilty about that decision, though I suspected it made me a monster.

#3 I remember a woman in my freshman comparative literature class who told me that getting an abortion is like getting your teeth cleaned. Her nonchalance convinced me that I would be fine, and that I was even perhaps not as foul as I had believed.

#4 I was twenty-one and Mac was nineteen when we moved into our first apartment together. It was a small, plain apartment with yellowed linoleum floors and air conditioner box windows. It never felt like home, but we were kids in love, so we didn’t care.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669387671

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Insights on Janelle Hanchett's I'm Just Happy to Be Here

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I was pregnant with my first child, and I smoked a cigarette on the balcony of our one-bedroom apartment. I had never been the type of person who wanted company in moments of vulnerability, so I was alone to deal with the situation.

#2

I had unprotected sex with my boyfriend when I was eighteen, and I knew immediately that I would not have a baby. I felt relief, but also sadness. I did not feel guilty about that decision, though I suspected it made me a monster.

#3

I remember a woman in my freshman comparative literature class who told me that getting an abortion is like getting your teeth cleaned. Her nonchalance convinced me that I would be fine, and that I was even perhaps not as foul as I had believed.

#4

I was twenty-one and Mac was nineteen when we moved into our first apartment together. It was a small, plain apartment with yellowed linoleum floors and air conditioner box windows. It never felt like home, but we were kids in love, so we didn’t care.

#5

When Mac said that he would leave me if I didn’t have his baby, I knew that he was not afraid of my response or conflict, and that he was merely informing me of a decision. I was not ready to speak the words I am having a baby.

#6

I was afraid of having a baby. I was afraid of committing to him, and I was afraid of what my parents would say. But I had her because she was meant to be here.

#7

I was always optimistic, and I always called my mother first when I was in trouble. I needed her optimism to keep me going. But as I got older, I realized her optimism was just a fantasy.

#8

I was the youngest of my cousins to have a baby. I was excited to be a grandmother, but I knew that I would not end up washing dishes while the men watched other men slam into each other on brightly lit screens. I would demand freedom, even within the confines of pregnancy.

#9

It was difficult to tell my parents. I was afraid of how they would react, and I was sure they would be disappointed in me.

#10

I stopped smoking and drinking immediately after my balcony denial, which felt wholesome