Growing up, society taught me that I should not disclose that I am an alcoholic or an addict; that my addiction is something I should be ashamed of. I heard this message every time someone described someone’s behavior to be that of a “crackhead,” every time someone talked about...

Here’s the thing about overdoses: they never get easier. It’s not like a wipeout, like when you miss a trick and your board goes out from under you and you have about a tenth of a second to think about whether you’re going home with road rash or a broken kneecap. And it’s not...

The phone call that no parent wants to receive came on November 10, 2016 at approximately 8:15 AM, the day that forever changed our lives. If we knew more, questioned more, educated ourselves, the outcome could possibly be different. Tori made decent grades during her first year...

I started my recovery journey in 2012, when I took a stay in a three month long, all women’s treatment facility in Mobile, AL. Not long after I completed treatment I decided to take my will back and relapsed. I lived in the chaotic state of relapse after relapse for a year until...

Two years and one day ago, I took a dive head-first into a dumpster. Why, you might ask? I was trying to find syringes I had thrown away a few days earlier. The dumpster was full and I had to throw pieces of trash out one-by-one during the hunt, I cut my arm up in the process. I...

My name is Chris Reed and I am a person in long-term recovery who lives a life far beyond what I ever thought was possible. I got sober on September 20, 2009 when I was 19 years old. I lived a normal childhood: good friends, excelled at sports, did well at school, great loving...

Why am I here? That’s a good question. I will never forget when a student asked me something quite similar a couple years ago. He posed the unexpected question “what is the meaning of life?” As silence rang out over the auditorium, I remember trying to assemble my thoughts and...

I’m a 34-year-old mother of 3. I’m also a woman living in recovery from addiction. I'd like to share my story with you. I was born in California to a single mom. When I was a baby, my mom and I moved to Maryland – which is home. That’s where my entire family is. I had a good...

April 4, 2015. The absolute hardest, but most beautiful day of my entire life. The day I got clean and sober. How the hell did that happen? Well, it all happened so fast. I always thought I wasn’t an alcoholic because I wasn’t your everyday drinker. I would drink here and there,...