Recovery is possible!!!!

The Together we Live family celebrates the victories of each other in this battle against this disease. With all the negative in this world it is so awesome to have something so positive to celebrate! Jenn is a champion in the fight against addiction, both personal and her fight to help those struggling. She deserves a big round of applause!! Seven years clean and sober for Jenn, today. Let us celebrate her together, as the beacon of hope she truly is!

I pull up at the zoo with both my little ones still asleep; utilizing the 25 minute car ride for their afternoon naps. I’m jealous of their deep sleep, but the words start flowing and I know it’s time to write. I’ve been trying to find *time* to put words down about the last 7 yrs of my life. 7 years of sobriety. I guess I finally found the right moment; as #2 and #3 sleep in the back seat and the seals make their selves known from a few hundred yards away. Reflection is a weird thing. I do it daily as I pray and thank God for where I am today; summarizing all my blessings to Him, as if He isn’t aware. But to wrap it all up in a few paragraphs and really express the gratitude, experience, harmony; the good, bad and the ugly; the awe and light, well that can be a challenge. I want to get it right bc I want people to hear it right. There are so many suffering with addiction and sometimes they just need to hear that it is possible. That minutes can turn into days and days into years. That restoration is possible and mending sometimes takes time, but the time is worth it. I *needed* to know that. 7 years of sobriety: marriage to a wonderful man, 3 kids, a home, vacations, making honest money and getting my health back, is all a part of these years. So is pain, questioning of beliefs, yelling matches, covid tests, leaking boobs and all nighters with an infant; sharing a bed w a 2 yr old and tears bc my teenager is, well, a teenager who will only give me one word answers when I’m desperately looking for more (come on kid)! This is life. And this is life sober. And, even the bad, I love it! It is what I dreamed of (minus the covid and leaky boobs) as a suffering addict struggling to get up in the morning. Struggling to make it through the day just to steal, cheat, lie and shoot up drugs to be “normal” and “successful.” I just wanted the be normal. It’s like a different language; a different use of vocabulary when ur in active addiction. Your own world where you only play the part concerned about yourself and your opiates. Grateful that today it is different. It takes a village; most hard things do. It takes making mistakes, but getting back up. It takes trying new things bc what you are doing isn’t working; yes, even when sober, your ideas don’t always work (oh hey higher power)! The hard times come and the easy times come and I’ve used the tools I’ve learned in the past 7 years in recovery. And with God, I’ve stayed sober. I try everything to remain humble bc I’m just not that good at it. I try to help others, love well and forgive all (not great at the later either).

7 years of ups and downs; different levels of commitment and test driving life’s multitude of ways and here I am. I still have questions, but I love the answers. I still mess up, but I know I need to learn.

Here’s to more years of marriage, more sleep at night, prayers of thanks daily, a teenager becoming “unmoody” and many more sober years...God willing! And please, help someone struggling. Sometimes that’s all it takes!