I lost my husband in July of 2016 and I commenced my prison sentence in the following November. I was 63 years of age. I was convicted of misappropriation of funds.
I spent most of my life working in the legal field as a conveyancer. I messed up people’s lives. I took the trust out of the legal industry and the firm that I was working for.
My family disowned me, and friends did too.
The one thing I miss with my whole heart is my granddaughter. I was involved closely in her day-to-day life, taking her to school and looking after her and her brother. She will be turning 18 now and there is still a lot of sadness there.
Prison teaches you to draw on yourself. You teach yourself to be more aware of your personal self, to discover how to take your future path and move forward. I’m not proud of what I did, but prison allowed me to develop some positivity in myself and for my future.
Now I want to give back to the system and show that the system can work for you. I want to especially create in older women entering the system and be able to support as someone who has been there, survived, and how programs and education can create an opportunity to give something back to yourself.
I think it’s also important to get knowledge of the exit programs and use the supports that are available to you. You might even be lucky enough like me and develop lifelong friends who you can depend on for support.