Students Rising Above

Michelle Gertmenian-Wong
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ― Three years ago, Christine Soto got the call every military wife dreads. Her husband's building in Iraq had been hit by a missile. Joshua was serving with the U.S. Army. It wasn't even a human being on the other end of the phone.

"They call me and say, 'This is a recording, this is Sergeant such and such…He [Joshua] was hit in his building. This is all we can tell you now.' Here I am thinking he's lost a leg, may be dead, that any moment military people will be knocking on my door. At eleven at night, I hear a ding on my instant messaging—that's how we always talked to each other. I ran to my computer so quick and I was just weeping, crying my eyes out."

Joshua was lucky, and came away with stitches in his head and some shrapnel in his leg. Christine welcomed him back to their home in Concord. She officially introduced him to their three month old baby girl, Soleil.

Christine's life has been a series of unexpected twists. She moved into the basement of her friend's house as a 16 year-old. She had to get away from her mother's crystal meth addiction and her father's alcohol abuse. By working, she was able to pay rent to stay in the small room she called her "dungeon castle."

Despite having no parent figures, Christine graduated from Encinal High School in Alameda. She got involved with the non-profit Summer Search, and was chosen for SRA's class of 2000. She attended Pine Manor College, but said it wasn't a good fit.

"I did not last there. I was millions of miles away from my family, and it didn't work out," she recalled.

Christine returned to the Bay Area, still set on furthering her education. She got her associate degree from Diablo Valley College, taking classes at night while working as a project manager for a telecommunication company.

Friends from the company set her up with Joshua. He had just finished basic training for the military, and they insisted that she meet him.

"I was like, 'No, you're out of your mind! I have no interest.' I talked to him on the phone. I said, 'Do you read, or are you some sort of musclehead?' It turned out we were reading the same book," Christine recalled.

They hit it off. After getting married, Joshua was stationed in Iraq and had to leave Christine. She was pregnant and alone. That's when her mother came back into her life.

"Joshua was overseas the whole time I was pregnant. When I needed my mom the most, she was there for me" she said. "For that year and a half, my mom was sober. I saw her step up in a way she never had before."

Her mother was with her through the entire pregnancy and C-section. Once Joshua returned, though, she returned to her old ways.

"For some time, I didn't talk to her after she relapsed. I tried to get her to go to rehab, all those games I tried to do to fix her, control her addiction. It never worked as a child, and it didn't work as an adult," Christine recalled.

Christine decided to go to Al-Anon, a support group for people with loved ones with drug problems. She meets with the group once a week. They talk about how to deal with addicts in their lives. Since joining the group, Christine has found clarity on her mother.

"I've learned that I can love her from afar," she said. "I can love her, but I don't support her decisions. After 28 years, I finally realized I didn't cause it and I can't control it. She's a broken person and there are not enough hands to put her together."

Christine and Joshua have two children, now—Soleil, 3 and Santino, 7 months. Her mother can visit under supervision, and only when she's sober. Those visits will have to be postponed in the near future, though, as the family will be heading to Las Vegas.

Christine will spend four days at the All Baby and Child trade show, marketing a product she invented called the Bathing Buddies Shower Sling.

"I had my newborn daughter, and after a long day working, it was just a huge chore trying to give her baths. I would shower with her, but it would be so slippery, and I almost dropped her. I thought to myself, 'there has to be a better way.'"

Christine searched for a product that would let her shower safely with her child. When she was unsuccessful, she decided to create one herself.

Target has already bitten, and she's hoping for another big hit at the expo. She has no experience in sales, marketing, or design, but that hasn't stopped her. Keeping Christine down will take a lot more than that.

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