“Alcoholism is selfish,” she says. All
her life she tried to make her dad happy
by doing all the things he enjoyed, hoping
he’d stop drinking. She eventually learned
only her dad could save himself.
She said these experiences taught
her to be strong and that she could do
things differently. The summer of her senior year, her dad moved to Seattle, where
he had family. Her mom had always stood
wanted to be the best at whatever she
did. On her first day of school, the teacher told the class that if they could spell
their first names, they’d get a gold star.
Her first name is Kristina, but she didn’t
know yet how to spell it, but her middle
name is Jan, and she could spell that.
She got her gold star and from then on
was known as Jan.
Both of her parents were social
50
covered my husband was an alcoholic,” she
said. They moved again, to California, where
Jan got a job working at a plant that manufactured disposable diapers. After 14 years of
marriage, Jan divorced her husband.
In 1993, finally things started to come
together for Jan. She married the love of her
life and had a fairy tale marriage. Six years later, he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. Jan says, “He was the bravest and stron-
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a storm.
ratures,
res that
roducts
40 & Fiesty
ore you
er 24/7
nals to
beauty
ses and
kout.
Living life after transplant
Many people speak of ‘getting old’ when their
40th birthday approaches, but Bessie Ament
is thrilled to have recently celebrated this
milestone. Her journey preceding it was not
an easy road, and her strength, courage, and
outlook on life played a monumental role in
her inspiring story.
scans
to your
way to
How long have you lived in Renton?
My husband and I bought a house in Renton in
1999, right after I finished pharmacy school and
was licensed, and, fortunately, before the housing market went through the roof.
happy
Carlos
What is your current career and what influenced your career choice?
I am a pharmacist. I studied Anatomy and Physiology in my junior year of high school. I originally
wanted to be a Veterinarian; however, when I followed a vet, on job shadow for a day, he did some
surgery where he was lopping ears and I knew, at
that moment, I couldn’t do it. Then, a pharmacist
came and talked to our class. I was very interested in the field, partly because it was math and
science, areas where I was very strong. While
he was speaking, I thought to myself, I could do
that! At the time, I was working at my first job,
pushing hangers at Ross Dress for Less. After
that, I went next door and got a job at Payless
where I worked my way up to being a cashier in
the pharmacy, then, I went to pharmacy school. I
always knew it was the direction I wanted to take.
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