“I got mad when his food stamp card was denied and I had to cover groceries. It wasn’t about the money. He’d comment on my ‘new haircut’ and I was enraged because he’d already seen it many times. It wasn’t about my hair. I drove him from doctor to doctor, rehab to rehab, short tempered. My regret is now stronger than all the anger I felt throughout the years.”
‘He was homeless and I was embarrased by him. Now he’s free, and I’m chained by all the grace I couldn’t bear to give.’: Woman urges forgiveness after losing dad to overdose, ‘My regret is stronger than all the anger I felt for years’
‘It took an overdose to come to the conclusion I was not the young woman I was raised to be. Suddenly, everything began to click.’: Transgender man advocates for support in the ‘addicted trans community’
“I threw heavy flower pots through the glass front door and begged the police officer to shoot me. Sadly, the beast that is addiction took over. As terrifying as it was to unearth such a deep truth about myself, suddenly everything began to click. I began to recognize why I couldn’t stay sober for even an hour. I was not the woman I was raised to be.”
‘I lost my virginity without my consent. I went from pregnant at 15 to waking up in county jail with a suicide suit on.’: Woman details battle with addiction, self-love, ‘I decided to choose life instead’
“I spent 10 years numbing my pain, always trying to be the loudest in the room to hide the shame. In the depths of my darkness, being a young mom just wasn’t an option. The party life was for me. Until I met Eric. We met on an online dating app, then locked eyes at the gym, not knowing the other would be there. I knew instantly I would spend the rest of my life with him. I had to make a decision: be ashamed of my journey, or allow it to propel me forward.”
‘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.”
‘We cry in the car until we can’t breathe. We suck it up, smile. We hug our babies tight, because we could never imagine someone beating them repeatedly.’: Woman shares harsh reality of social work, ‘Next time you see a social worker, tell them thank you’
“‘All social workers are is baby snatchers.’ It’s dealing with the 5-month pregnant momma who just relapsed on meth. It’s talking to the girl molested from ages 3-15. It’s losing your client to suicide. Listening to the 17-year-old who was kicked out and has nowhere to live, or the widow who lost her husband of 50 years and doesn’t know how to live again. It’s crying when your client finally says, ‘I am beautiful, I am loved, I am enough.'”
‘When he died, everyone reminded me ‘once an addict, always an addict.’ After 5 years sober, he bought a pill he thought was Percocet. I’ll never know why.’: Mom of 5 says ‘life after addiction can be so, so beautiful if you let it’
“I fell in love with a man who never put anything before our family, especially not a pill. I am reminded every day, ‘He made a choice. He didn’t have to take that pill, whether he knew it was laced or not. So, stop being sad.’ His life isn’t celebrated the same. His death wasn’t mourned because of how he died.”
‘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.”
‘After rehab, I manipulated my mom into dropping me off at a bar. ‘I’m not an alcoholic.’ I got drunk and high that night.’: Woman overcomes heroin and alcohol addiction, ‘God put me on this earth to make an impact’
“I knew nothing about heroin. But I did it. That missing feeling I had inside of me for so long was gone. It felt warm and like I was being hugged. It felt like I had arrived. In my mind, I was a heroin addict, not an alcoholic. I got drunk and got high that night. I would share needles with whoever. I found out I had contracted Hepatitis C. One of my best friends, who I used with, had been sober for 18 months. If she could do it, so could I.”
‘I woke up with a large man on top of me. ‘Had I been assaulted, or was it my fault?’ I left the room, grabbed my baby.’: Woman quits drinking for her daughter, ‘I was able to love in a healthy way and be the best mom I could be’
“I went to a party up the street. I somehow made it home, brought a guy with me, and my body became an object. I remember my mom coming down and demanding the guy leave, and as it was happening, the house was getting robbed. I played the victim. I went to work while my family was left to deal with the mess. I had a beautiful baby girl and still, this did not stop me. I was physically taking care of my baby and bathing, feeding, and caring for her. But did I really care? Those words are haunting.”
‘You’re the 5th person to overdose by 3 p.m. today. You’re the lucky one,’ the nurse said. My grandma saw me turning blue. I didn’t feel lucky.’: Woman addicted to heroin gets clean, ‘There are not enough words of gratitude. I would have missed it all.’
“The only time I was high enough was if I was close to an overdose. He shoved the gun into my temple and screamed at my using buddy to give him the money. To be honest, at that moment, I wish he would have pulled the trigger. My arm was swollen four times its normal size the next morning. One person held me while the other drained my arm. I was just going to do a little bit and then go pick my daughters up from daycare.”
