My kids said sober up or we'll never talk again.

My husband was a deacon and he taught men’s bible study. He pursued God. He came home from work one day and he collapsed on the floor. He had a massive brain aneurysm. I was his around the clock nurse and turning him every three to four hours. He had a breathing tube and a stomach feeding tube, a catheter, he was like a baby. I had a friend come that I had worked with. I had never really drank or done anything because it just never appealed to me. I had tried it and just didn’t like it. So, she said; “I’m going to bring a bottle of wine over because you’re so uptight. Let’s have a glass of wine and see if that won’t help you. You know you are just under a lot of pressure and stress.” So, I had a glass of wine and I got a buzz. I thought; “This is pretty good.” I was immediately addicted. I wanted it. I loved that feeling. I was drinking but I was still able to take care of him. I pretty much went into a dark depression. I was just getting bitter and angry at God because I felt like God was punishing me. I felt like I had done something and God was just mad with me. Otherwise, why would He do this to this fine Christian man who did nothing but love Him and follow Him? I didn’t want to live. I didn’t see what I had, that I had two beautiful daughters and son in laws and grandchildren. I was just blinded to that. The enemy just deceived me. You are just so selfish in addiction, you just see yourself. It’s all about you. In 2008 he passed. They were like; ”Mom, please stop. We have already lost Dad. We don’t want to lose you. So, why don’t you just stop?” I said; “I can’t.” I tried to stop but I couldn’t. I went to AA. I went to Bradford. I did every self-help thing to try to stop. I would be good for a little bit and then I would do it again. Of course there were bad relationships with men that I had no business being with because I just didn’t care. My children did an intervention. I had done one last binge and they came to my house to where I lived. I was on the floor. I was a wreck. I had been drinking and taking, I don’t even remember what all I took. They stood over me and I can still see their faces. They just said; “This is it. These are your choices. We have got an airplane ticket to Teen Challenge in Ft. Meyers, Florida and you can get on that plane in an hour or you can pack your stuff and we never want to see you again. We’re done.” I went to Ft. Meyers, Florida to Teen Challenge. I was there for four months and I was mad about it, let me tell you! I was mad. I started praying because I knew that God was. I believed in God. I was a Christian but I was such a mess. I said; “God if you hear me, please show me something. Show me that I’m not going to die. That there is going to be a way out of this mess and I can have my family back. That I can do what I need to do to get back on track.” I started praying and He kept showing me Athens. Athens. Every sermon we would go hear it would be something to do with Athens. I said; “Oh, that’s it. He is going to send me back home to Athens, Alabama because I am going to die. I’m going to die. So He is letting me go back home to be with my family. So, I go to my desk at Teen Challenge one morning and there are some papers on my desk. I turned it over and it was an application to Women at the Well in Athens, Tennessee. They said; “Mom, we are not really going to have anything to do with you until we see you finish this. You’re going to finish it and then we will see what we are going to do.” So, I didn’t see my grandchildren for eighteen months. I had a very shallow communication with my daughters. When I graduated, they came to my graduation. God just started restoring. He’s restored everything. I remember the day that I was on the floor and I saw my girl’s faces and He let me feel the pain that they felt all over again. I felt that pain that they experienced and how much they loved me. How hard that was for them to do to their Mother, (for their Mother) that they loved me so much that they would do what they did. You know, they didn’t just let me die. So, I would take all that I have been through and I would do it again to have what I have today. I would.