We all have challenges in life, some significant and others less so. The strength and tenacity with which we face these challenges and the awareness that it is never too late to make changes are typically the most significant factors.
Take my word for it when I say that Ginny Burton is an expert in this field. The amazing take on adversity and ultimate success that Local12 News recently published is absolutely fantastic to read.
Eric Johnson, a reporter for Local 12, says that he first met Ginny when he was looking into the problem of homeless people in Seattle and many other cities in the United States a few years earlier.
Eric wrote, “I entered a men’s shelter called Lazarus Day Center, which is run by Catholic Community Services.” I have no idea what I was seeking. I simply desired to learn from someone.
I introduced myself to the female employee there. She appeared exhausted and had long hair. She stepped outside and spoke with me for a few minutes despite the fact that she appeared to be being pulled in approximately five different directions.
Ginny Burton turned out to be that woman. According to Local 12, two years later, Eric called Lazarus to see if Ginny still worked there and met her once more.
“I don’t know why, but I think I need to talk to you again…” I said when she called. Eric wrote about it.
She then began to describe events in her life, including how she was born to a businessman with mental illness and a heroin addict. Her father was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to prison when she was just four years old.
By the time Ginny was six years old, she had begun smoking marijuana due to her difficult upbringing. Her mother then gave her first taste of meth when she was 12 years old, and by 14 she was smoking crack.
She is said to have been raped when she was 16 and attempted suicide when she was 17. Ginny had two children and left an abusive marriage when she began using heroin at the age of 23.
Ginny stated to Local 12: “That person is me. I’ve been convicted of 17 felonies. When I passed you, you held your wallet from me. I am the one who attacks random people in public. I did not like savory. Everybody was a casualty and everybody was prey.”
She went on to describe her life on the streets, in which she and a male companion held Mexican drug dealers at gunpoint and robbed them:
“If you are stranded on the street, if you smell bad, if you haven’t washed in a long time, if you can’t get into social services during work hours because you are too busy feeding your addiction, if your addiction is bigger than you, if you repeatedly break your integrity, and if you are out on the streets harming other people, You are Hopeless.”
“Your life is unbearable. You would rather die than live. I hoped someone would kick me out for the majority of my addiction.”
Ginny tried to change her bad course after realizing this, but she was stuck in an addiction cycle that couldn’t be broken. In 2008, she was released from prison after serving 33 months behind bars.
She was able to keep her sobriety for six months after getting out before relapsing. She was then held for the last time on December 5, 2012.
She told Local 12 that “I was in a stolen truck.”
“A very sluggish one. When I pulled out, a police officer turned on the lights to pull me over for a broken light. He pursued me as I fled. In front of an apartment building, a tree almost hit me. And that was it. that was the end.”
However, that was not the end. At least, not the end of all hope.
Ginny went to therapy and rehab after applying to the Drug Diversion Court program, where she was able to get clean once more and keep it.
Ginny was determined to make amends for her previous mistakes when she began working as a Social Worker for the Post Prison Education Program for seven years. She got the idea and the motivation to go to school there.
She stated, It brought to my attention how much time I had wasted throughout my life. Additionally, I realized that I actually excelled at learning. something I appreciated.
Ginny applied to the University of Washington after attending South Seattle College. In 2019, she was awarded a Martin Honor Scholarship to attend the UW.
Ginny excelled in her studies of political science when she was 47 years old.
To commemorate her two very different lives, she only shared two pictures of them side by side. She is at her worst in a 2005 King County Jail photograph. In another, she is smiling happily in a suit and hat.
She penned: ” Today, I realized that as long as I’m breathing, I can do anything, so I let go of my insecurities about my age, characteristics, genetics, failures, and impostor syndrome. I decided. This former donor’s eight-year degree in political science from Seattle University is a significant accomplishment.”
You can’t help but be inspired after reading this woman’s story of rock bottom and ultimate redemption.
Regarding Ginny, she stated to Eric Johnson of Local12, “My story is not an accident.”
“I anticipate that it will be utilized by everyone else. I might be able to help people reclaim their lives by playing the role of a Pied Piper. That is what matters to me. There are days when I wish I could simply escape, to this garden and open a small cafe. But in reality, I am aware that it is my responsibility to maintain hope.”
What a stunningly beautiful tale. Many thanks, Ginny; You set a great example for people who are going through hard times.
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