Tonight we saw part 2 of the Teen Mom 2 finale special with Dr. Drew, and it couldn't have been more different from the first go-round. Gone was a still childish Jenelle and her tearful confessions about drug use. Instead we saw some real grown up moments from Leah Messer Calvert and Chelsea Houska, the two girls who got to sit on stage with the TV shrink.
Calvert's husband, Jeremy Calvert, and ex-husband, Corey Simms, even managed to sit side-by-side on an MTV couch, and say nice things about each other. In fact, Jeremy, who wasn't around when his wife first started her Teen Mom journey (and who wasn't a teen parent), has somehow turned out to be the one of the most inspiring stars of the series.
Not only didn't he blanch when he was faced with dating a single mom with young kids, but he ended up marrying her. And while Leah jerked him around for awhile there, Jeremy told Dr. Drew he respected Corey completely for fighting for his family.
That alone makes him sound like a class act, but he didn't stop there.
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Jeremy admitted that he doesn't actually watch Teen Mom -- he's too busy working to get caught up in all of it. And he didn't exactly seem keen on being on the show at all. The fame is not his thing.
He'd actually like to see Leah give up Facebook and Twitter entirely, stepping away from all the critics who make her cry ... and the fans too.
We'd hate to see it happen, but watching the three of them on stage tonight, it was easy to see that Leah is a completely different person since Jeremy came into her life. She's calmer and more self-assured. Even when she became defensive about her decision to get pregnant again (with baby Adalynn), she was able to admit that she's being defensive!
It's obvious she's lucky to have him around, and Chelsea's story only made that more evident.
Despite being one of the best moms on the show with a bubbly personality -- and a gorgeous face to match -- Chelsea sadly admitted to Dr. Drew that she feels out of place as the only mom who hasn't dated anyone but her child's father, Adam Lind, since giving birth.
She seems to have finally slammed the door on a relationship with Adam. When a fan asked whether she'd like to see little Aubree grow up to date men like her father or learn from her mom's mistakes, Chelsea was quick to choose the latter -- even though Adam was sitting right beside her. She's clearly grown up enough to let go of the little girl fantasy of a perfect family with a mommy and a daddy and their little baby, and it's allowed her to blossom.
A Chelsea without Adam is a healthier, more successful Adam.
Still, it's sad to see a girl who has so much going for her still struggling with her self esteem. If the powers-that-be decide to bring Teen Mom 2 back it would be worth it just to see her continue to come into her own without Adam holding her back ... and maybe to meet someone like Jeremy.
Because that's what this series has been about, hasn't it? Wanting to see these girls face their struggles and slowly but surely climb over them?
Being a teen mom isn't glamorous; that we've seen. But these girls, these women, are real people who have grown up before our very eyes. It's hard not to harbor a hope that they all have futures brighter than their pasts.
Were you inspired by Jeremy tonight? What do you hope for the girls?
Image via MTV