Jeanette Bradley Everyone Needs a Mama J BY RYAN SANDER We decide to meet for coffee and settle on Northstar, a Columbus staple in the Short North. “I’ll be wearing all black,” she says over the phone, her voice light and easy. Jeanette immediately greets me with a smile and touches my arm. She has multicolored gemstone jewelry. Now I understand the black. She has a tattoo that reads, “Free To Be Me.” I want to ask about it but hesitate, making a mental note to circle back later. She reminds me of my childhood neighbor or one of my mom’s friends who has a license to say whatever necessary and impart wisdom that I need. Familiar. From the instant I met her, she was familiar. We sit down; I know little about her, except that for a period of time she was caught in the world of prostitution. But before I can begin, she asks about me. She smiles – it lights up the dimness. Some small talk breaks the ice. I learn that as a child, Jeanette suffered significant physical and sexual abuse from a family member. Little did she know that her sisters were being abused, as well. She had little to no support or encouragement from her parents. She turned to drugs and men for comfort, but what she thought was love, turned into abuse, which led her off path. “I’ve seen the worst of it. I’ve been homeless, I’ve squatted in homes, I’ve had sex for moneydrugs, you name it,” Jeanette says, “I came from middle class Worthington, and I became a prostitute.” Our conversation only skims the surface of a wide range of topics. We talk about family, struggle, thriving, drugs, faith, and so much more. “My biggest regret is not being the kind of mother I should have been to my sons,” Jeanette says. She describes how the abuse she experienced had such a big impact on her choices in life: “When it happens to you, you don’t understand how the abuse can continue to affect other decisions in your life, how you view yourself, or how you look at others.” Jeanette talks like she is indebted to a world that almost gave up on her. In speaking about her struggles, she says, “I’d go through everything to get here today and have the opportunities I have today.” I am shell-shocked for the second time in this conversation. I probed further about how she can be so joyful about things in her life that I cannot even imagine. I find that Jeanette’s faith is unshakeable. She points to her tattoo – finally, an answer to my burning question! “God was the first person that made me feel like it was okay to be me and have the opportunity to become me,” she says. She continues on and talks about her final suicide attempt: “I can remember waking up in the ER after my last suicide attempt. I made up my mind that I wanted to live for something. . . When my sister died, I didn’t grieve for the sadness in her life, I grieve for her missed opportunities and missed year; the impact she could have had.” Jeanette would eventually find success through Catch Court, a program in Franklin County that helps survivors of Human Trafficking. “I’ve seen the worst of it. I’ve been homeless, I’ve squatted in homes, I’ve had ENVISIONPROVENSUCCESS.COM | 13
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