{"id":3664,"date":"2023-10-09T17:11:38","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T17:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/used82.com\/?p=3664"},"modified":"2023-10-09T17:11:38","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T17:11:38","slug":"47-year-old-who-was-a-meth-addict-at-12-and-had-17-felony-convictions-graduates-university-after-getting-clean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/used82.com\/?p=3664","title":{"rendered":"47-year-old who was a meth addict at 12 and had 17 felony convictions graduates University after getting clean"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all encounter difficulties in our life, some grave, some less so. What usually matters most is the courage and determination with which we face those difficulties, and the importance of remembering that it is\u00a0never\u00a0<\/em>too late to turn things around.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ginny Burton knows a thing or two about that, believe you me. Her incredible story of hardship and eventual triumph was recently published by\u00a0Local12 News<\/a>, and boy does it make for good reading.<\/p>\n

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As per Local12\u2019s Eric Johnson<\/a>, he first came upon Ginny several years ago, while researching the epidemic of homelessness that had gripped Seattle, and so many other places across the United States.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI walked into a men\u2019s shelter called\u00a0Lazarus Day Center<\/a>, run by Catholic Community Services,\u201d Eric wrote. \u201cI don\u2019t know what I was looking for. I just wanted to talk to somebody and learn.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI introduced myself to a woman who was working there. She had long hair and seemed tired. She was being pulled in about five different directions and seemed a little suspicious, but she stepped outside and talked to me for a few minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Credit \/ King County Jail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That woman turned out to be Ginny Burton.\u00a0As per Local12<\/a>, Eric once again met Ginny two years later, after calling Lazarus to see if she still worked there.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen she called I said, \u2018I don\u2019t know why, but I think I need to talk to you again\u2026’\u201d Eric wrote.<\/p>\n

It was then that she explained her life story, which included being born to a mother who was a drug addict and dealer who suffered from mental illness. Her father, meanwhile, was sent to prison when she was just four after committing a series of armed robberies.<\/p>\n

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As a result of her troubled childhood, Ginny was smoking marijuana by age six. Her mother then introduced her to meth at 12, and by 14 she was smoking crack.<\/p>\n

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Credit \/ King County Jail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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After reportedly being raped at 16, she then attempted suicide for the first time at 17. Two children and an abusive marriage later, Ginny became addicted to heroin when she was 23.<\/p>\n

Ginny told\u00a0Local12<\/a>: \u201cI am that person. I have 17 felony convictions. I am the person you used to clutch your bag when I walked by you. I am the person that would randomly attack somebody in public. I was not a savory person. Everybody was a victim, and everybody was prey.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for her life on the street, which consisted of her and a male accomplice robbing Mexican drug dealers at gun point, she continued:<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen you\u2019re stuck on the street and you smell like feces and you haven\u2019t showered in forever and you can\u2019t make it into a social service during working hours because you\u2019re too busy trying to feed your addiction, and your addiction is bigger than you\u2026 and you\u2019ve compromised your integrity a number of times over and over and over again, and you\u2019re starting to be victimized by the people on the street\u2026 you\u2019re hopeless.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t stand your life. You would rather be dead than alive. I spent most of my addiction wishing that somebody would just blow me away.\u201d<\/p>\n

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