- Drugs
Martha’s life turned sharply, when she lost her daughter Rachel on August 12th, 2013. Rachel started using, when she was 12. It was just weed at the beginning. Martha found out about it when Rachel was about 17. She battled addiction to pain pills, cocaine and benzos for the last 6 years of her life and battled heroin for the last 18 months. It was heroin that finished her young life.
She left behind 6 children aged between 9 months and 11 years. Some of them were too young to understand and only know that mommy was very sick and went to heaven. Rachel always wanted ten children, but they were not planned and are from three or four different fathers, although they are all loved. Today Martha says, “These babies keep me sane! I don’t know how I would take my next breath without them.”
Rachel always cared well for the children when she was in good health, but when the heroin took over that drug was all that was of any importance in her life. Rachel lived in Mexico for a year, drank a lot, and had the children with her. When she came back home, she went back to her old “buddies” and started using heroin, as pills were getting too expensive for her. She left the babies home alone, when she went to find her dealer, and neighbors called the police. Martha got partial custody of four of the children, when Rachel went to a treatment facility to get better. She was pregnant with the youngest baby at that time. Four of the children were born addicted and premature, and Martha does her best to shelter them from any outside drugs and alcohol, even they are still so young. She says that the children bounced back pretty well, and by age two all were caught up.
As Rachel grew up, she was physically, mentally and sexually abused. Some of that was by her own father, and some was by Martha’s other husband. Rachel’s father was an alcoholic, and Martha has alcoholism on both sides of her family, but since 1999 Martha has been married to a loving and caring man without alcoholism, addiction or abuse in his life.
Rachel went to seven rehab programs over the years and had long periods of sobriety, until her next relapse would throw her back into addiction. Her counselors were always positive about her progress, but it never lasted. Martha lost never hope. She always honestly thought that the bad times had passed when Rachel came home from treatment. During times of active addiction Rachel stole jewelry, money and medication from her mother’s home, but, when clean and sober, she was a loving and beloved member of the family and would never have done anything like that. Rachel is described by her mother as an outgoing person, happy and always ready for a party and fun. She had lots of compassion and would give anyone the clothes off her back.
The cops tried to prosecute Rachel’s dealer for murder. Her last words as a text were, “I want a shot. One last time.” The people she was with took her in her truck and walked away to eat. When they came back two hours later, they called the police, but it was too late. Martha got a call at 5:12am on a Monday morning, and she knew something bad had happened. Martha was told that Rachel was in an ambulance and that things were not looking good.
Although Martha did absolutely everything in her power to support and help her daughter, if she could have done things differently, she would not have let her daughter come back to this small town and her “friends” after the last treatment. Her advice to other mothers is to, “Get help. Exhaust every option. Don’t ever give up!” Her message to her daughter in heaven is, “I love you baby girl. Momma has got this. Rest easy. We will never forget. I wish you had called me that night, I would have come!”
I am so glad that Martha shared her story with us. She is a real Hero, and I hope she keeps recovering from all the harm addiction ha caused her. Please share a word of encouragement with her, if you know her in person, or share right here under this article.