ABOUT US

I was born on July 11, 1975 to Janet and Jonathan Hamlett. My mother was the age 18 years old already with a two-year-old son from a previous relationship. A year later I was born. To the surprise of my parents, I was born with Poland Syndrome. This is a rare birth defect where babies are born with missing or underdeveloped muscles on one side of the body. These abnormalities can affect the development of the chest, shoulder, arm and/or hand. As if the shock of the birth defect were not enough, the doctor told my parents that I would never learn to read or write. All of this weighed heavily on my parent’s marriage. Shortly after my parents split and my dad chose to abandon his family leaving my mother to care for two small children. After several years of caring for two young children, one with a disability, my mother felt the need to leave my brother and I with her parents. I would often tell people that I had the best grandparents in the world. As hard as they tried, they could not stop the feeling of abandonment that had seeped into my heart and mind. These feelings effected my actions from early childhood until this day. I was often bullied because of my disability which led me to physical altercations with the children bullying me. 

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I began to follow in my mother’s footsteps and found myself pregnant at the age of sixteen. I did not want my first-born child to be the product of an illiterate angry teenager. I picked up a book geared for children in kindergarten and began to teach myself to read. Hard as I tried, reading and writing proved to still be a difficult task for me as I struggled through life. At the age of twenty-five I now had three children. With the help of one of my children’s father, I set out to acquire a CDL license. After a lot of hard work and determination I became a CDL driver with a job driving a bus with a major transportation company. This opportunity led me to believe that I had finally found my purpose in life. I could drive a bus, truck, or any other vehicle better with only one fully formed arm better than some people with two fully functioning arms. Shortly after being hired I began to experience discrimination because of my birth defect. The company thought I would be a liability and tormented me for years trying to get me to quit. They knew that after hiring me that they could not fire me without cause. This would open them up to a lawsuit for discrimination. All through the course of my employment I had no accidents or incidents. This did not stop them from the harassment and torment. After getting to the point where my depression was causing me to have suicidal thoughts, I realized that I had to quit this job. After a year of being on suicide watch and refusing to leave my home, I entered outpatient counseling. Through counseling I began to feel better about life and realized that I not only needed to live for myself but for the three little lives that I had brought into this world. Through a lot of prayer and counseling my outlook on life took an upturn. I then secured employment driving a school bus in 2005.

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As things were looking up, I was thrown a curve with the death of my beloved grandmother. She was not just my grandmother; she was my mother and my everything. I was with my grandmother when she took her last breaths. Her last words to me where to take care of the children. This is a promise to this day that I have kept. 

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In 2011 after working for the school bus company, I decided to make a drastic change in my life. I enrolled in night classes at Community College to become a licensed Funeral Director. It was a struggle being a single parent, driving a school bus, and taking classes at night and during my break in the middle of my job. I had to repeat classes at times which took a toll on my confidence but after four years of hard work I received my Associates Degree in Arts. I used this life experience as a steppingstone to the next chapter of my life.  That same year I enrolled at Mercer County Community College. The goal was to complete their Funeral Service Dual one-year program. Entering once again with extreme fear of being overwhelmed and failing, I completed my goal with a lot of prayer and tutoring. In 2016 I received my Associates Degree in Funeral Services.

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Armed with two Associates Degrees I acquired the knowledge and process of preparing a loved one for their final resting place. From embalming to internment, I truly found my purpose in life. Because I was not licensed, I did not have much earning potential. Once again, I fell back on my CDL license and began working for Greyhound. At this time, I also adopted my son Elijah. I came into Elijah’s life when he was six weeks old and needed a stable home that could provide him the needs of a newborn child. I put my life on hold for a year and gave Elijah all of the love that he deserved. Elijah is now officially a Hamlett and I would not have it any other way.

 

I am still working on becoming a licensed funeral director and only have two tests to go. As my track record goes, I have taken another detour. As of 2021, I am a certified grief counselor. I have decided to start a nonprofit home-based organization to help families with the grieving process.