“The electricity had been turned off. I was enrolled in Cosmetology school, but hadn’t gone in weeks. I was so tired. My grandparents were on vacation, so I thought I’d go to their house and shower. My intentions were good. I sat in their shower for what felt like an eternity. I remember each individual drop of water hitting my body as I cried out to die. I was fighting the demons, doomed to lose. I lost that day. I didn’t go to school. Instead, I stole $7,000 worth of jewelry from my grandmother.”
‘I keep telling them to give up on you. I don’t know why they won’t listen.’ The officer grabbed my black and blue arms. I was a walking zombie.’: Former addict transforms her life, ‘I was never hopeless. I was never unworthy.’
‘No, no, no.’ I was emptying the pockets in his jeans to wash them. I felt something small, cold. I knew what it was immediately. ‘How could he?’: Single mom learns of partner’s drug addiction while pregnant, ‘I begged him to love our baby’
“He began disappearing for days. He had no care at all about my pregnancy. I knew something was going on. Little did I know, I’d get the shock of my life. I was excited he agreed to come home for dinner. As I was emptying the pockets in his jeans for laundry, I knew what it was immediately. A glass container used to store drugs. ‘How could he?’ I thought. I sat there crying, holding so tightly to my baby bump, telling her not to worry, I would fix her dad before she got here.”
‘I’m not going to sugar coat it. His file is so big, no one will even look at it anymore.’ He was pencil thin, eyes sunken so deep. He was ours.’: Couple adopts 16-year-old runaway after his birth mom called police on him, ‘His story didn’t end how the world told him it would’
“She was dancing around the facts, and we could tell. She wanted to see if we would scare. He’d run from his previous placement, was failing all of his classes. She had no other place to turn. We asked to FaceTime him. We saw the emptiness in his eyes and the face of a kid who didn’t even know what hope was. He couldn’t make eye contact. His skin was covered with sores, his hands curled and tremored. He was 15. He was ours. He told us the drugs he’d done, the girls he’d been with, and the things he’d seen, and I couldn’t help but see the beginnings of a boy who would leave that past behind.”
‘She laid in a pretty blue dress with a scarf around her neck to cover her scars. She was cold and stiff. It didn’t look like her, but I knew it was.’: Woman loses 19-year-old sister to suicide at airport on way to rehab, ‘She was so close. She was on the plane’
“He was sobbing. ‘Abigail…’ My heart dropped. ‘Dad, what the heck is going on?’ He responded, ‘I think your sister was arrested. She called and said the cops were after her. Then the call dropped. I haven’t heard from her since.’ She was last seen at the Denver International Airport. My dad escorted her to security where she was catching a plane to rehab. The reality of what happened hurts too much to face. I find myself getting so angry at her. She was so close. She was on the plane.”
‘This guy is capable of killing you. I’ve never told someone they need a gun, but you do.’ I had to file bankruptcy. I was so naïve.’: Young woman gets sober to save her life from ‘sociopath’ ex, ‘I dodged an ATOMIC BOMB’
“Girls started sending me screenshots. He’d been taking them on dates behind my back. His ex of 10 years came forward with times he showed up at her house claiming to be suicidal and begging for her back. So I did what any normal girl would do – I left him. But I allowed his charm to get the best of me. I was fully addicted to him. My mistake. ‘Would you be open to checking out the sex club down the street?,’ he asked one night. Soon our lifestyle of gambling and drinking wasn’t enough. I was a part of this secret underground community. I’d be lying if I said it was wasn’t a little liberating.”
‘Daddy, I choose MY mommy.’ He snuck into my bedroom and set a basket of clothes on fire. He cried with me.’: Woman loses both parents to addiction, re-claims her life, ‘I chose my own path’
“At 11, I was getting ready for school when I heard a knock. I opened to blue lights, police closing in. My parents were caught in a drug bust and a reporter was catching it all on camera. At first, my mom didn’t want to be seen ‘behind bars.’ Tears just rolled down both our faces. She put her hand against the glass, and I put my hand against hers. Kids talked about plans for the weekend, homework. I’d write letters to my mom, telling her how much I loved and missed her, and how I wished I could have some of her spaghetti.”
‘You and I will never speak again,’ I told my mother. She’d sleep nude next to me, crowning me the ‘man of the house.’: Man overcomes child abuse, trauma, ‘The person in that mirror was not the real me, and I knew it’
“On my birthday, I put a gun in my mouth as my girlfriend pounded on the bathroom door begging me not to kill myself. I will never forget the taste of the cold metal against my tongue. I pulled the trigger, but the pin didn’t strike the bullet casing—a failure to fire. I had guns in my life since I was a child and I will never understand why that round malfunctioned. I had to accept I’d survived some of the most toxic environments imaginable. I needed to stop making excuses and take my life back.”
‘Hey, are you alone? I don’t know how to tell you this, but mom just called. Jason died. He overdosed.’ That moment, everything STOPPED.’: Woman overcomes Adderall addiction, gets sober after brother dies of overdose, ‘my new life is full of magic, love’
“I sat on the floor of my balcony thinking about how I could hang myself but not wanting to do it for the sake of everyone outside. ‘This is all just a game.’ I missed a metal railing by a few inches and went straight into a ditch. I flipped 7 times, hit a tree and went airborne. The next thing I knew I was saying, ‘Jason? Jason, please don’t leave me.’ I was in a full-blown conversation with him. He was in the same white gown that I said goodbye to him at his funeral. ‘Cass, you are not alone, but you need to go back.’”
‘I could’ve killed myself, or my precious son. I’m riddled with guilt. I’m so ashamed of things I’ve done in front of my child.’: Mother in the throes of addiction, ‘I don’t want to do it anymore. I want my son to have a sober mom’
“I have a toddler at home who I will not be able to take to get his picture with Santa. I will not be able to take him to see all the pretty Christmas lights. I sat in the shower and let the water run down my body as I cried. Then demons creep in. ‘It was boring getting high at home, taking care of a toddler all day. It would be fun to stay at a motel and just get high. I just want to do it ONE MORE TIME.’ I’m riddled with guilt. I’m so ashamed.”
‘Do you mind if we pray together?’ He voted for Trump, I voted for Hilary. He grabbed my hands. Tears started to flow.’: Woman loses son to ‘senseless murder,’ shares co-worker’s act of kindness despite differences
“I was having a tough time yesterday missing my son. He was senselessly murdered this summer during college. I usually hide it behind a smile, but on this day, I just couldn’t. Zach and I work together at the Ford truck plant. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked. Like many, he said ‘sorry.’ We went back to work. Minutes later, he came back. Tears started to flow. Who knew 2 people with so little in common could share something so big and beautiful?”
