Back from the Brink

BY JOAN THARP

Marina and her two daughters Lorraine, left, and Dominique, relax in their Santa Clara home. Photos by L.A. Cicero

SUMMER 2005 -- Marina was born addicted to the methamphetamines her mother used, and it didn't get better from there for a long, long time. At the age of 2, Marina was placed in the first of several foster homes. At 4, she was adopted; at 7, she was back in foster care.

Three years later, Winnie Arthur walked into Eastfield Ming Quong Children and Family Services in Campbell, where Marina was living. The tough 10-year-old looked at this woman who was selected as Marina's advocate and mentor, and didn't say a word. It went that way for weeks on end, the two of them sitting in silence. Finally, Marina asked Winnie if they could please go do something.

Winnie showed up every week for the next 12 years, through more foster homes, Marina's descent into drugs, alcohol, and gangs at the age of 13, and the time Marina ran away to New Mexico. Winnie just kept talking to Marina about right and wrong, how to sift through options and make choices, and how to learn from mistakes and do better next time.

Marina holds a photo of her longtime mentor Winnie Arthur, who died two years ago. "Winnie taught me so much about being a mother and about being a human being," Marina says. "She taught me that everyone deserves one, two, three, four, five, six, seven chances, because that's what life is about."

At the age of 16, a homeless and drug-addicted Marina became pregnant with her daughter, Dominique, now 7. With Winnie's support, Marina decided it was time to turn her life around. She got off drugs and out of gangs, and eventually married her boyfriend, Paul. Four years ago, they had another girl, Lorraine, now 4. The family lives in Santa Clara with Paul's grandmother.

Winnie died of colon cancer two years ago. But until the end, she and Marina saw each other every week.

"Winnie taught me so much about being a mother and about being a human being," Marina says. "She taught me that everyone deserves one, two, three, four, five, six, seven chances, because that's what life is about – you make mistakes, you learn from them, you go on, you make more mistakes. And as long as you learn, you've done well."

This seen-it-all, done-most-of-it young woman is very certain of where she would have ended up, had it not been for Winnie: "I'd be dead, or I'd be in prison," she says. "That's what happened to almost all my friends."