“’Do NOT stop at the liquor store!’ Yet I always found myself in the parking lot. My grandmother told me, ‘You are going to hell.’ I came into work each morning smelling of tequila and bad decisions.”
‘My life’s over and I’m expecting a baby!’ I fell asleep behind the wheel and didn’t remember crashing.’: Woman gets sober after almost losing her daughter, says struggles were ‘worth it’ in the end
‘I smoked pot to get over my brother’s death. To put it mildly, it was torture.’: Man overcomes smoking addiction, claims that’s when ‘life truly began’
“I’ve heard many people say you don’t go through marijuana withdrawals. That’s ABSURD. I’d literally break into sweats at the sight of food and I would randomly barf every time I left town without weed. I mean, I wouldn’t dare bring weed to the airport, right? So, to make things better, I chose to not leave my house again! What an excellent idea, right? I truly thought it was the remedy to make things better. Quitting marijuana was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
‘One day I took a lot of medicine with the intention of putting a stop to the chaos. I was very drunk and don’t remember much of the rescue.’
“Then a miracle happened!”
‘At 19, I got pregnant and relapsed. My son wasn’t enough to stop me. I continued to use behind his back. I went back to hiding it, and was caught by my son’s father.’
“My friend introduced me to a better way to get high: injecting. He left when I got pregnant. I looked at myself in the mirror. ‘What are you doing? You are worth so much more.’ I wanted my kids to have love, but first, I had to find it myself.”
‘He slipped something in my drink. He had a razor blade. He ‘accidentally’ sliced my thigh. I took photos of the blood dripping down my leg. When I woke up, the photos were deleted.’
“I met someone new. Someone who made me feel alive again. Six months later, I found out I was pregnant. Then I received devastating news.”
‘I wasn’t the stereotypical addict on the streets with no teeth, begging for money. I had children. I was functioning. I’d get up, eat, go to the gym. Then, I’d go on a bender for days.’
“I’d do whatever I could to distract myself from the fact that I felt alone. I always wanted to stop, but I didn’t know how. People around me knew, but never said anything. It made me feel like it was okay. I didn’t realize I needed to change until I lost my children. I decided if I couldn’t beat this and see my kids again, I’d kill myself.”
‘My brother started paying extra attention to me. I didn’t think much of it until he began coming into my room at night. He took every chance he got to touch to me.’ Assault survivor shares heartbreaking journey to peace
“It began out of nowhere. I was frozen, unsure of what was happening. He told me not to tell. I knew something wasn’t right but he was my older brother, so I did what he said. Until one day, we heard my uncle’s car pull into the driveway. As he quickly opened the quickly, my brother rushed to get off of me. ‘What’s going on?!’ My stomach was in knots.”
‘You’re not shooting up, are you?’ My heart sank. I couldn’t even look my mom in the eyes.’: Young woman beats addiction and graduates with 4.0 GPA, says ‘no matter how bad life is, you’re worth it’
“I hugged her and with my head on her shoulder said, ‘Yes, mom. I am. I love you. I promise I WILL get better.’ They shut the door and told me I was no longer welcome. They did the best thing a family could’ve done. Let me fall face first and weren’t there to catch me. I was a good person with a big heart. I did good deeds for my family, friends, and community. But I was also an addict. And addiction doesn’t discriminate.”
‘She saved me from that dark road’: Mother credits newborn for saving her from addiction
“There are still bad days, but she makes it worth fighting through, and not give in to my urges. Zayla Grace is my lifesaver.”
