It’s been said that no matter far you go in the wrong direction, there’s always a chance to turn your life around.

That’s exactly what Angela Osier, a recent drug court graduate, has done.

Osier was arrested last May for chemical endangerment of a child, possession of controlled substance, possession of marijuana II and possession of drug paraphernalia.

 

SPIRALING OUT OF

CONTROL

Osier said after she had a C-section 10 years ago, she was prescribed narcotic painkillers, but said she didn’t take them then.

“One day I got a bad headache, so I took one and then I took another,” she said. “I liked the feeling.”

Osier said her daughter’s father and she started having problems and she turned to the pills.

“I struggled with them,” she said. “It was just here and there to begin with. Then, I was introduced to injecting it. It practically took over my life. I got to where I didn’t care.”

When she went to jail, her baby was taken from her.

“It was the worst thing ever,” she said. “But I had been praying and asking God for help. I believe that was my answer.”

She spent two months in jail.

“I’d never been in trouble before,” she said. “I was broken.”

 

EARLY STRUGGLES

Osier had some struggles growing up.

She has achondroplasia, a form of short-limbed dwarfism, which is the most common type.

As an adult, she stands just 4-feet-2-inches tall.

“People made fun of me my whole life,” she said. “It was a struggle. I was bullied and teased. People would want to be my friend and then they would not. I tried to fit in so people would accept me.”

Osier’s two daughters also have achondroplasia.

Additionally, when Osier was 7, her mom got really sick and went into a coma.

“Mom didn’t know anyone when she woke up,” she said. “Dad took me to see her. He told me that she couldn’t walk and she would look a little different.”

Osier said her mom was just sitting in her chair staring back and she just stared back at her mom.

“I didn’t know what to say,” she said. “I lost my mom. She didn’t know me. I went to live with my grandmother, and mom went to the nursing home.”

Osier lived with her grandmother until she was 18, but her grandmother didn’t quite know how to handle her dwarfism.

“I was little and I was also challenged,” she said. “She always treated me like a little child, even when I wasn’t one. I had to sneak around and did a lot of things.”

Osier said she enjoyed the feeling of the freedom.

“ I started drinking on and off at 16,” she said. “I also experimented with weed.”

A few months before she was busted, her father passed away.

“That was hard,” she said. “He always wanted me to take care of myself. I messed up. I regretted it.”

 

DRUG COURT

Fellow inmates in jail told her the District Attorney’s office would offer her drug court.

“Some were against it,” she said. “Others said, don’t do it. You’re set up to fail.”

Osier said she went back and forth on whether it was the right decision.

“My lawyer asked me if I wanted it,” she said. “I told him I didn’t know, but he said we would go ahead and do it.”

Osier said she went back to jail and someone from drug court came and answered all of her questions.

“Finally I said I thought I could do it,” she said. “I wanted to put my life back together.”

Osier said there were requirements for her to be successful in the drug court.

“In drug court, you have to want to change your life,” she said. “You have to take it seriously. The things they ask you to do are the things that will help you put your life back together.”

Drug Court director Sabrina Cobb is a big supporter, Osier said.

“She is a huge encourager,” she said. “When you hit a milestone, she’s so excited for you.”

Osier said she was a little scared leaving jail to do drug court.

“Being out of jail was hard,” she said. “I was closed to the outside world and I had lost everything. My baby wasn’t there.”

Osier said she was told she would have to get a job, find a place to live, get child care for her child and stay clean in order to get her child back.

“Those were a lot of the things I had to do in drug court,” she said. “I wanted my life back.”

Osier said she talked to the person who had her baby and got help to get out of the environment she had previously been in.

“I got a job and started saving money,” she said. “I bought a car and got my own place.”

She was able to spend time with her baby on the weekends unsupervised.

“I have physical custody of her now and I can get legal custody of her after graduation,” she said. “I’ve been clean a year.”

 

FUTURE

“My plans are to continue to be successful,” she said. “If I can do it, anybody can do it. My biggest thing is to be independent. I don’t want to be in a position where anyone has to take care of me and my girls.”

Osier said she plans to keep God first in her life.

“I’m going to put everything in His hands and I’m going to make it,” she said.

Osier said she knows her father is proud of her now.

“He always wanted me to be clean, take care of myself and my girls,” she said.

Osier said she hopes to get custody of her 10-year-old daughter, who currently lives with her father in California.

“My children and God are my everything,” she said. “I wanted to be a different person. Drug Court changed my life. I’m really glad I made this choice.”