“I began partying with a different crowd, mixing Xanax and vodka to help me cope. It was during this time I met the father. I was introduced to the reality of just how mean people can be.”
‘My son was taken away from me and placed with his grandparents while his father sat in jail. I would come face to face with the devil himself’: Mom recounts struggles with alcoholism, ‘It’s not an easy road’
‘Why don’t you get us some lottery tickets?’ I couldn’t imagine what he could be thinking. Tears streamed down my face.’: Woman details parents’ drug addiction and desire to break the cycle
“I was 19-years-old when I watched my parents shoot up heroin at our kitchen table. This is a picture of what I have left of my dad. I held my father’s hand as they told him there was nothing they could do.”
‘I hired a private detective. ‘For a few hundred more bucks, I can bring you face to face with your mother.’ Every time the phone rang, I hoped it was her missing me.’: Woman details life with addicted mother, ‘I vowed to be the best mom I can be’
“The doorbell rang at 6 a.m. I opened the door to see my mom standing between two policemen, muddy and handcuffed. She’d call me ‘Bucky,’ knowing I was self-conscious about my teeth. When I was 19 and getting married, no mom. When I was 20 and having my first baby, no mom. I had the same phone number for several years, but she never dialed it again.”
‘My hair fell out. I hadn’t had a period in 9 months. My daughter said with tears in her eyes, ‘I’m scared you’re never going to get better!’: Personal trainer overcomes alcohol addiction with exercise
“‘You have very little time left.’ I was non-responsive, my alcohol level was 0.32. It was not-so-silently killing me. I was fighting to survive.”
‘We rushed to go get our nails done but her reason ‘why’ struck me right in my heart.’: Mental Health counselor says, ‘you never know someone’s ‘why’
“Nail salons are finally open so, of course, I went to go get my little nails painted. As usual, I chatted with the person who was next to me. We laughed about how all of ‘us’ have rushed to go get our nails done but her reason for doing it struck me right in my heart.”
‘The priest said, ‘He can’t be buried. He wasn’t married here.’ That just about killed Grandpa Donovan.’: Man details memories of late grandparents thanks to StoryWorth
“I had a catering appointment one night in the area, so I stopped by to see him. His wife Paria answered the door. ‘Is Uncle Joe here?’ She responded, ‘Well, he is and he isn’t. He might have gone to the store.’ She had packed him into the bedroom because he was drunk, but I didn’t realize that until much later.”
‘I watched as my mom was zipped up in a body bag and carried away. This is the end of us.’: Woman loses mom to Stage 4 colon cancer, ‘My mom would be angry if I didn’t make a beautiful life for myself’
“Instead of celebrating with pizza and cake on my 17th birthday, we sat in the hospital. My addict brother would steal my mom’s medication. A switch flipped in my brain. Suddenly, my wants and needs didn’t matter.”
‘That night I cried in my driveway for a child. 10 minutes later, I got a call. ‘Can you take in 1-year old twin boys?’: 26-year-old single foster mom says ‘I was called for plans bigger than myself’
“There I was, a single 26-year-old woman. I can’t relate to abuse. I can’t relate to being moved to 5 different foster homes in a 4-month time frame. I can’t relate to being homeless and sleeping in a car. But what I can do is wrap my arms around them, hold them, and tell them their story doesn’t end here.”
‘K, this weekend for sure. No more BS. No excuses this time.’ He relapsed, again. ‘I’m so scared. I don’t want to die like this.’: Woman details her struggles with loving an addict
He starts to tell you, ‘My liver is hurting; I really need to stop.’ ‘I threw up a little blood. Don’t worry, I’m going to get sober.’ You start making deals with God, who you haven’t talked to in years. ‘Don’t leave him,’ you tell yourself. ‘It’s only temporary.’ Then…he never makes it. He relapses because he hates himself sober too.”
‘Lindsey, you have a problem.’ I shuddered in fear. I was lying on the bathroom floor. ‘No, no, no. Not again. Is this really happening?’: Woman 401 days sober after grueling addiction to alcohol, ‘I promise you, life gets easier’
“The night before, on my 21st birthday, I participated in an escapade that led my boyfriend and I into a terrible fight at a country club. The cops had to break us up. Nobody knew I’d spent hours in a holding cell after being arrested. Or that I’d blacked out on the highway and cheated on a few of my boyfriends. Or even that I’d drink a bottle of wine after my nursing shifts and show up to work hungover, my patients’ lives in my hands. I didn’t want to believe I had a problem.”
