Growing up I didn’t have a good childhood. My Dad was mentally abusive towards me and my sister. We moved around a lot. We never settled in one place so I was always the new kid at school. My parents divorced after eleven years of marriage. We went our separate ways. My brother stayed with our Dad. My sister and I went with my Mother to a whole other state. She became involved with a boyfriend who was very physically, emotionally and mentally abusive towards me and my Mom. So, that led me to rebel against authority.
I became addicted to pain medication and started to steal from my family just to support my habit. I was an alcoholic. Later on, leading to me becoming a meth addict. Through all of that, I became pregnant with my daughter. I was able to quit the drugs while I was pregnant with her but maybe a year after she was born I continued back into that same cycle of drug abuse, lying, stealing from my family, disappearing for days at a time, and sometimes a week at a time. I would leave my daughter with my Mom. I would hang around dangerous people. I pushed my family away. I pushed my daughter away. I, later on, lost custody of her to her Dad and his Mom. They got temporary custody of her for a little while and that still didn’t stop me from doing the drugs and I just didn’t care. All I cared about was how I was going to get my next fix. For a little while, I didn’t care about my family and it’s not easy to say but for a little while, I just didn’t care about my daughter either.
So, a couple of months later I got joint custody. I ended up getting joint custody. I would have her a week at a time and he would have her a week at a time. Even then I would just leave her with my Mom and just disappear for days at a time. One day I was on the verge of losing her altogether. I was too involved with the drugs and honestly, I thought that I was going to die a hopeless drug addict. Back then the only mindset that I had was this is my life. This is how I’m going to die.
So, I went to my Mom and my older sister in the kitchen and told them that I needed help, that something had to change. So, that was my rock bottom.
I started going to Anchor Point meetings. That’s where I met Miss Robin. I filled out the application for Women at the Well. A week later I was here. God has totally changed my life. He is changing me from the inside out. I now have joint custody back of my daughter. I live here. I’m an intern. I have received my high school diploma here. I have filled out for college and I am just so happy for what God had done in my life. I shouldn’t be sitting right here today. I am so happy that I can be the mother that my daughter deserves. The sister that my little sisters deserve to have.
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