When in jail, the man's dream was to create funny content with his family when he got out.
There's just something so special about a dad-daughter duo, but Justine Lorance Tuckett never got the opportunity to spend her years growing up in the presence of her father because he was in jail. In 1999, Bill Lorance killed his stepfather, which resulted in him being sentenced to 22 years in prison. At the time Justine was only 5 years old.
According to the National Institute of Corrections, Justine became one of the 2.7 million children in the US who have a parent who is incarcerated.
Not only did he miss his daughter's dance recitals, but he also missed her wedding and the birth of her two lovely kids. After over two decades, Bill was finally released from California Medical Facility, a state prison, on October 5, 2021.
Per BuzzFeed News, he was given three days of family time before his six-month transitional program began.
Before prison, he loved dancing in clubs and making home videos. It's no surprise that his love for dancing passed onto his daughter, who teaches a fitness dance class called Dirtylicious. During his time in jail, Bill got to know about the existence of social media and these viral challenges. His dream was to create funny content with his family when he got out.
So, on October 8, 2021, Justine posted an absolutely wonderful video of her and her dad dancing to some music. Honestly, there's a bond that just cannot be broken between parents and children, and the video that Justine shared with her dad is proof enough.
"Words can not express the emotions and feelings I've had this week. Picking up my Father from prison after 22 years was amazing," she shared on Instagram.
"When I was younger every time I blew out my birthday candles 🎂 I would wish that he would get out of prison…until I was old enough to realize that he wasn’t going to be wished back to me," she continued.
The woman then made it a point to talk about her dad lest people hate on them for having one happy moment, given that he was in jail for murdering someone. "My Dad put in the work every day, he is unrecognizable from the person he use to be before prison. Some resilient people CAN be reformed. Some people DESERVE to re-enter society again. Some WILL embrace their children, grandchildren, and family once again. Someone like my Dad."
The video was posted just after a 20-minute practice session. When the 28-year-old woman shared the video, she only had about 400 followers, but now, she has about 50,000 followers! She shared the same clip on TikTok and people had nothing but nice things to say about the two of them.
For years, Bill was just a picture on the fridge, but Justine is just glad that her children will be able to make up for the lost time. “He’ll be able to go to the dance performances, the baseball games, and be able to play and have those memories with young children, which he didn’t really get because he was in prison,” she said.
People do deserve a second chance, don't they?
References:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.nicic.gov/Library/033338-slides.pdf
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/amberjamieson/dad-daughter-tiktok-dance-prison
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUytOESlDxP/
https://www.tiktok.com/@justinetuckett106/video/7019833090470137094?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1
Cover Image Source: TikTok | justine_tuckett
