Justin Bieber's mom, Pattie Mallette, left home at 16. To support herself and pay for her destructive habits, she turned to petty crime and pot dealing. At 17, she threw herself in front of a truck and landed in a mental ward.
It was there that she was led to a Christian life, though her faith faltered soon after and she fell back in with her old friends and became pregnant. There was no returning home and she went on government assistance after Justin was born. She worked part-time jobs for diapers and rent, wondering how to proceed without a high school diploma, wondering how she could go back to school with no one to care for Justin.
With the help of a neighbor who paid for a year's worth of daycare, Mallette slowly earned her degree, followed by college training in website design on scholarship.
Meanwhile, her son's perfect rhythm on the drums, his guitar playing and singing talent, surfaced early. He earned extra cash as a busker on guitar and a djembe drum he had received as a gift. Singing on the streets for money is something Mallette said she never forced him to do but earned them thousands of dollars after the first time he tried for fun at age 6.
Success snowballed when Justin was 12 on the strength of YouTube videos Mallette posted for faraway relatives that were quickly discovered by young people and exploded with millions of views. Along came Scooter Braun, a persistent manager who launched Justin's career at barely 13, fresh out of junior high.
Mallette first told Justin about her past when he was about 12, after she began sharing at small-group meetings.
"I felt like he was old enough, mature enough to hear my story, and, you know, talk about it," Mallette said. "I feel like it's really important for us to talk, and I've always asked him a lot of questions and always tried to protect him from going through the same sort of thing."
At 21, Mallette made a choice to abstain from extramarital relations. Still never married and holding strong, she is ready let go of another promise, this one to Justin when they first moved to the states that she wouldn't date until he was 18.
"It's time to start dating," she smiled.
