Born to a drug-dealing mother, a Seattle woman started using drugs at age 6 and became addicted to meth by the time she was 12. She has since shown off her unbelievable transformation from hopeless addict to college graduate.
As one of seven children, Ginny Burton was born in Tacoma, Washington to a drug-addicted, drug-dealing, mentally ill mother. At the age of 4, her father had been sentenced to prison for a series of armed robberies. When her mother gave her a hit of marijuana at age 6, Ginny didn’t stand a chance of having a normal childhood.
Ginny’s young life continued to spiral. KOMO reported that she was using meth regularly by age 12 and was smoking crack cocaine by age 14. Tragically, she was raped when she was just 16 by one of her mom’s buyers, leading to her first suicide attempt a year later at age 17. She eventually got pregnant, only for the baby’s father to die in a shooting. When she did marry, the abusive relationship was the perfect excuse to try other drugs. By age 23, she was an out-of-control heroin addict.
Ginny lived a life of constant turmoil, robbing drug dealers at gunpoint to support her addiction. She perpetuated the chaos her mother did, failing to care for her own two children and watching as they were removed from her home. Luckily, this was the necessary catalyst.
“When you’re stuck on the street and you smell like feces and you haven’t showered in forever and you can’t make it into a social service during working hours because you’re too busy trying to feed your addiction… you’re hopeless. You can’t stand your life. You would rather be dead than alive. I spent most of my addiction wishing that somebody would just blow me away,” Ginny recalled.
Ginny went to state prison three times before she decided to get clean. After her final release from prison, she managed to stay sober for six months before relapsing and getting arrested again. She begged the judge to send her to a drug program, and the court obliged.
“I knew I was OK. I knew when he put the handcuffs on me and put me in his car, I knew my life was going to change and it was then, in that moment, that I made the decision to turn it around no matter what it took,” she said.
Ginny got clean while in the program and vowed to never touch another illegal substance again. Already in her 40s, she started taking classes at South Seattle College with kids half her age. Soon, she was accepted to the University of Washington and began studying political science.
“Today I’ve let go of feeling insecure about my age, the lines on my face, my genetics, my failures, and imposter syndrome to recognize that no matter what, if I’m still breathing, I can do anything I set my mind to. Graduating at 48 from the Political Science department at the University of Washington Seattle is a real accomplishment for this former quitter,” she said.
During this time, her husband and fellow addict, Chris Burton, was released from prison. The pair reconciled and promised to hold each other accountable.
Now in her 50s, Ginny has spent much of her time helping addicts overcome their drug abuse. She wants to pass on her wisdom and hope to those in the same situation she conquered.
“My story isn’t an accident,” she said. “I think it will be used for everybody else. Maybe I can be some kind of Pied Piper, to help people recover their own lives. That’s what I care about.”
Ginny credits the major turning point with the tough love the officers and judges showed her, holding her accountable for her bad choices.
“I am grateful the Pierce County Sheriff’s loved me enough to arrest me. I am grateful that the judges loved me enough to incarcerate me because those incarcerations gave me an opportunity to work myself into changing my life,” she said.
Although Ginny has more than a decade of sobriety under her belt, she knows that temptation is always lurking around every corner. With the help of her husband and her friends, she is confident that her life will remain drug-free.
Ginny Burton is living proof that life can get better for even the most lost addict. We hope her story inspires others to take back their lives and live every day with freedom and purpose.
