LaShawna M.’s Story
My name is LaShawna. I got clean on April 5, 2010, after several tries. This was probably my third or fourth clean date in the previous two years. August 22, 2008, was absolutely the worst day of my life. My children had been removed three days before and this day was my first court date.
On my way to court, I got a call from my 17 year-old son telling me my 28 year-old sister had had a life-threatening stroke. I was completely overwhelmed and scared to death. I had no idea what was going to happen in court, and I had to get home to be with my sister while we waited for my parents to fly in from out of state. This day was the start of the journey that I’m still on.
Since that day, I’ve been to detox twice, and I’ve been through two impatient programs and three outpatient programs. I wasted my time and the time of the people who worked in those programs because I didn’t take advantage of what they were offering. I finally got it in the last outpatient program. I addressed some issues I had been avoiding like the plague. I’m not going to go into all the drama I created for myself in all of the other programs. When I was finally ready, I did the work; and not only was I able to get clean, I’ve been able to stay clean.
I have my children back, and my marriage is working again. Today my life is very close to what I’ve always wanted it to be. I’m the mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend that I was meant to be. I’m not going to say my life is perfect, because it’s not; what’s different today is my ability to handle whatever comes my way. I have my higher power, my family, and my support group to thank for the woman I am today.