The blessing of a second chance
Last week, an article written by Barbara Miller was printed on the front page of the Observer-Reporter concerning the promotion of Megan Marsteller as chief assistant in the Washington County Coroner’s office by Washington County Coroner S. Timothy Warco.
I write this letter with a heavy heart because Marsteller is my sister-in-law and Tim Warco is my father.
Much was written about her criminal past and her struggle with addiction to prescription medications. What was not mentioned is that since Marsteller relocated to Washington from Texas she has turned her life around in a significantly positive way. She was looking for work, and it is true that my father did give her a second chance on a part-time basis in the coroner’s office.
Over the past year and a half, she has displayed commitment to the position and has learned the responsibilities and day-to-day tasks of the office very quickly and efficiently through the guidance of my father and the recently retired chief assistant, Jean L’Altrelli.
She has displayed the type of work ethic and performance that has earned her the promotion to the chief assistant position.
More important than her above-mentioned work performance is the fact that Marsteller has been clean and sober from drugs and alcohol for over two years now. She has faced her addiction head-on and has to this date satisfied the requirements of her probation. She is the mother of a beautiful six-year-old boy and has provided a safe, loving home for him.
All of this has happened in her life because God saw fit that my father give her that second chance that she desperately was looking for in life.
With this chance, her life has flourished. Just as she felt that her life was finally calm and on an even plane, Barbara Miller ran her name through the mud and opened up old wounds and painful memories of the wreckage of her past.
If that was her intent, I say to her, a job well done.
Marsteller has faced this newfound embarrassment through the press with class and bravery. She has continued to perform her duties in the coroner’s office and hold her head up high when in public.
The mistakes of one’s past can be a great catalyst for a future that is full of happiness, joy and success.
If we all take a look at ourselves, we all have regrets and skeletons in our closet. I, for one, have a past.
My past is marked with mistakes and many struggles, but my past has molded how I live my life today and how I envision my life in the future.
God gave me my second chance in life and I’m proud to say that through his direction, he led my father to give Marsteller hers.
Growing up in Catholic school, we were taught that Jesus Christ once told a group of people that he who is without sin should cast the first stone.
We were also taught to pick the suffering up and not kick them while they are down. Barbara Miller has cast that stone, but has kicked someone who was not down but on her feet standing tall, because of the blessing of a second chance.
S. Timothy Warco II
Washington