This week's Decent Fucking Human is Jackie. Her fucked up story includes growing up in poverty, sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, alcoholism, drug use, (barely) surviving a house fire, and the murder of her oldest son.
Jackie was one of those kids you'd say never had a chance. She was born into poverty, was sexually abused by multiple adults, and started smoking and drinking before she was old enough to drive. There was so much trauma packed into her young life that just surviving was an accomplishment.
She says she wasn't always a Decent Fucking Human. She was wild and charismatic - two things that can get any kid in trouble. She was the kid who convinced her friends to run away in 4th grade when they got caught smoking. Their adventure was ended pretty quickly by a fence and a mother (not hers), but she found herself on her own at 14 when she could no longer handle the sexual abuse at home.
That's the way Jackie tells her story. She sprinkles in humor before breaking your heart, and then she makes you laugh again. You're going to laugh a lot listening to this one.
I'm not going to take you through the twists and turns of Jackie's story because I can't even begin to do it justice - she's the charismatic one after all. There is one last thing I need to tell you though. On December 16, 2022, Jackie's oldest son was murdered by his ex. I can't let you press play without mentioning this. Keep it in mind when you hear the way she talks about her life and her sobriety today. This woman has been to hell and back, and then to hell again, and she still wakes up every day and chooses sobriety.
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Get your copy of Divine Love and read Jackie's chapter titled The Longest Uber Ride to learn about Jackie's experience in rehab and how her non-profit Transforming Tumbleweeds came into existence.
https://www.facebook.com/transformingtumbleweeds
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