As I begin this part of Tina’s story, I am reminded of how small my scope of homelessness is.  How can I even imagine living a life that seems so far away? And yet I realize, it is circumstances and our inability to overcome them or change them that can put us into life situations we never imagined.

Tina had a whole bunch of life circumstances happen to her.  Granted, as she got older, the choices she made remain hers.  And yet I believe she truly did the best she could with the tools given to her.   JFK (John Kennedy) said, ” A miseducated child is a child lost.”  Tina had love in her life…she lacked other things needed to help her make decisions that were good for her.

When Tina’s dad died, he had life insurance which should have guaranteed a new start for Tina.  All that money did was guarantee a stronger  future in drugs.  Unable to cope with the grief, she masked it.  I think Tina said it best, “Drugs weren’t the problem, they were the solution to my pain.”  But it was in the solution that the cycle continued, causing more pain, and more bad decisions.

Tina had an intrigue with the harshness, danger and thrill of the street life.  Although she still had a home to go to, Tina spent more and more of her time with hardened felons and drug dealers.  With the drugs dulling her ability to make good decisions, she one day found herself in another bad situation.  One of these felons, wanted for rape and murder, jumped behind the wheel of the car she had inherited from her dad…a car that her dad often called his ‘pride & joy’, a car that was that last place she could still be part of his life, a car that gave her a sense of being connected to him.   As this man began what started as a joy ride and ended as a police chase, he stole from Tina the little she had left.   As he dumped her on the side of the road, stealing her car, she sat alone…he had not only stolen her car, he had also stolen her hope.  At this crossroad, Tina would now surrender and give up… but on her terms.