Sobriety, Healing & Recovery

Your life seems OK to others.  Your kids are fed, bathed, clothed, and in school.  You are showing up to work.  On the outside, you look pretty much like most moms doing their best, with the tools and knowledge they have that day. On the inside, you are dying.  Literally.  Your big, shameful secret - your alcoholism - is eating at your brain, body and soul.  One day, by the grace of God, you realize you need to get help, or you will die.  You don't know what to do or how to do it, and you don't want to do it as much for you as for your kids - they need a mom. Slowly, you start to reach out. You get some support. You do the hard stuff, like breaking old routines and habits.  Your alcoholic brain and Facebook friends (through their pictures of 6pm wine) tell you that you deserve to drink because your life is hard, but you reach for tea or go for a run instead. You start to string your sober days together, 24 hours at a time.  You start to help others do what you are doing.  You also start to wonder how the hell you were able to function as a mom and at work, when you were drinking.  Life is really hard - and you are so very grateful to be showing up clear-headed and sober, to face it head-on.  To figure out - how do I pay all these bills and get out of the debt that has grown to overwhelming proportions?  How do I show up as a wife each day, married to someone who is still drinking, emotionally detached, self-destructive?

This is the situation faced by several friends of mine, who are truly heroes in my eyes, for what they have overcome, and what they have accomplished this year, by turning their lives around and showing that recovery from the brink of death is indeed possible.   As part of their recovery, they want to go to the She Recovers retreat in NYC on May 5-7, 2017 (sherecovers.co/nyc/) but there is no way they can afford the travel and retreat expenses.  Unfortunately, because of the stigma surrounding addiction, and the lack of public awareness around addiction, access to treatment and recovery support is very difficult, especially for those who need it the most.  

I have set up this fund because I know how important it is to broaden your network of positive, healthy people who are on the same path, and I believe the NYC retreat will provide tools and inspiration for my friends in recovery.  The money will be used to pay for travel (plane tickets, hotel) as well as conference fees.  If there is money left over, it will continue to be used to help people who come to me as a resource in recovery.  It will be used to pay for their basic needs and other expenses they have as they continue to build their lives in recovery.

Some of the most remarkable people I know, are my friends who have overcome or are in the midst of overcoming addiction.  I am deeply grateful to you, for helping them use their gifts, and new lease on life, to be of service to others.