“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’
‘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.”
‘He presented no remorse for his actions and was in and out of jail. I watched my family wilt and fade.’: Sister expresses gratitude for brother’s sobriety, ‘My brother is back’
“My brother didn’t care about his existence. Nothing could save my beautiful brother until he decided to save himself. My parents, they refused to give up.”
‘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.”
‘I started seeing burnt foil and spoons around the house. Money and valuable things went missing.’: Woman married to meth addict for 6 years shares powerful plea for sobriety
“It’s looking for him in the early hours of the morning while the kids sleep in the car, praying I don’t find him dead on the road. It’s being quiet in the house because he claims there are cameras everywhere and people standing outside the window watching our every move. It’s tucking my kids into my arms and saying sorry over and over again. ‘Maybe this is his last one, just maybe.’”
‘I’m going to tell him to stop.’ Our son said the words I dreaded. I prayed he would sleep through this.’: After divorcing alcoholic husband, woman says ‘I have hope for love and happiness on my own terms’
“I heard him say, ‘Wake up mother f**kers, it’s time to clean.’ I knew this was bad. Then, I heard a loud bang. Then, another bang. I could hear him, soundly mildly amused. Suddenly, I felt I was being stared at.”
‘Please check on your people with a history of addiction. We’re not okay, and honestly, we don’t have the courage to tell you.’: Woman urges ‘we just need to know it’s going to be okay’
“We know how much our mistakes hurt you, but we need grace in these uncharted waters. This quarantine has been like gasoline to our old habits. We’re not okay.”
‘I got the news my ‘first love’ passed away. I grabbed my phone. ‘I’m bleeding and it won’t stop.’ I also felt an overwhelming presence beside me.’: Woman finds faith after near-death experience, ‘I’m living proof of the power of prayer’
“I heard the news of him having children, joining a church, and getting sober. I messaged Zach one day to tell him how proud I was of him I was. I grabbed my phone off the counter and called my mom. ‘I’m bleeding and it won’t stop.’ I could FEEL Zach’s presence. It is something many don’t believe. But I felt it. I will never ever deny this happening.”
‘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’
“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.”
‘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.”
