‘I have great kids; I guess I did something right’
“I was 20 when I got married. We were together for 10 years, and we had three children. Actually, I have four children, but my sister raised my youngest. I had my baby girl until she was 6. She’s been with my sister ever since. I have no relationship with her now, and my relationship with my sister is damaged. We still struggle with that.
“My oldest three pretty much know everything about my past, the issues I had with drugs and alcohol. I know that we’re probably not as close as we could be because of my past, because I just wasn’t there. I bailed on them. But they love me and I love them.
“When I was in jail in 2004, I got a letter from my youngest son. You have to understand, if you call him on the phone, he hardly talks. He’s just not a phone person or a computer person. But he wrote me a letter when he was about 12 years old. He said, ‘Mom, one thing I always remember that you told me is that no matter what I do, you’ll always love me. That I should never be afraid to tell you anything. You told me that you don’t care if I’m a bank robber, if I’m on drugs or whatever else. You always said that no matter what, you would love me.’ And then he said, ‘I want you to know that I feel the same way about you.’ That meant so much to me, particularly at that time.
“I have great kids. I guess I did something right.”
— Jennifer Bourgeois
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