Former U.S. sprinter Marion Jones, 33, who served a six-month prison sentence for lying to prosecutors about her steroid use, is pregnant with her third child.
Jones spoke recently at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Africana Studies, and talked of her time in prison and how she hopes to carve out a new beginning for herself and children.
Marion made the decision to not allow her two sons visit her in the Texas prison - she knew saying goodbye each time would be too painful. She was also aware of others who were enduring more pain than she - women in prison who were and had been there much longer.
Softely weeping at the memory, Jones said, "All I had to do was look at my neighbor and see that she had been in 15 years and know that her kids hadn't seen her in 15 years. Yet she was able to endure . . . endure for much longer than six months."
Jones has regrets about the choices she made about important decisions in her life.
"I wish that at certain moments in my career that I really had taken a break and stepped back from the fame, the money, and the success, and thought about the decision I was making. One of my biggest regrets is that I did not do that at pivotal moments in my life and my career."
Although very difficult, Marion said her jail term was oddly liberating.
"I went through so many emotions," she admitted. "But when I first went in there was this feeling of relief. People are surprised by that. But it was relief in the sense that I knew I'd done what I had to do. It was the start of a new beginning for me."
She added, "People realize I messed up. I stood up to it. I took what came because of it and now I'm certainly not hiding in a case somewhere. I'm not a hermit. But I certainly don't plan to do a tell-all that's going to rip people up like you see some athletes do. That's not the message I want to share. That's not the message I want to be remembered by.
"My message is positive. Yes, mistakes were made. But how can those mistakes help you?"
Although what she did was wrong, Marion has set an example for her children by owning up to her mistakes and facing the consequences.
Marion's first son Tim Montgomery Jr. will be six next month (dad is Marion's former boyfriend Tim Montgomery) and her second boy with husband Obadele Thompson will be two in July. No word on her exact due date with baby number three.
[Source]
Related Posts:
Forget Those Pregnancy Rumors... Halle Berry Is Smokin'!
Harrison and Calista Are Adopting A Daughter
