Why Carly Gregg Matters to Me
There are people you meet — or maybe never really meet, not in the usual way — who change the way you see the world. Carly Gregg is one of those people for me.
She’s serving life without parole.
That’s a heavy sentence to write. It’s even heavier to carry. Most people would look at that and see an ending. I see a beginning. The hardest truth I’ve ever had to wrestle with: that someone can make a terrible mistake, and still be deeply human, deeply valuable, and deeply missed.
More Than Her Sentence
People talk about second chances like they’re easy to give out. But Carly never really got a first one. Her life was a mess of broken systems, chaotic choices, and pain she never asked for. And yet, through all of it, she loved. She showed up. She fought. She made you feel like you mattered.
I Carry Her With Me.
I think about her all the time. In quiet moments, I hear her voice in my head.She reminds me that strength isn’t loud. Sometimes it’s just surviving another day when the world says you shouldn’t even try.
Why She Matters
Carly Gregg matters to me because she made me braver. Her situation showed me what it looks like to be raw and honest, even when it’s easier to shut down. It taught me that people aren’t just the worst things they’ve done — they’re stories, wounds, light, humor, grief, and hope all tangled together.
She mattered before her sentence.
She matters because of who she is, not where she is.
She matters — and always will.
If we ever stop seeing the humanity in people like Carly, we lose a part of our own. And I refuse to lose that.
Lisa Ann Featherstone