“I was terrified of being locked away if I was honest. When I turned 27, I was convinced that would be the year my body wouldn’t be able to handle the alcohol I was consuming. I became okay with dying. Then, one morning, drinking before work, I had a seizure. I didn’t drop to the ground or convulse. Instead, my hands cramped up. I couldn’t speak. I went to the hospital, but didn’t dare tell doctors.”
‘If you don’t get help, I’m moving out.’ I had a seizure. My mouth felt wired shut. I couldn’t speak.’: Young woman suffers alcohol-induced seizure, finally gets sober, ‘I can look people in the eyes again’
‘I’m young. Doesn’t everyone drink?’ I chose to be homeless. On the streets, no one could hold me back.’ : Young woman gains back ‘self respect, dignity’ after overcoming alcoholism
“I traded a life of steady income and comfort for a life on the streets in order to support my addiction. I slept in homeless camps, under bridges, along railroad tracks, and in strangers’ houses. My sign, ‘Support my whiskey right for a frisky night,’ made more money than any other sign asking for help. I was living on the street, so no one cared. It came with the territory.”
‘I was sitting in a hotel room. I had on a tight black dress, listening to my client say what ‘he wants to do.’ My gut was screaming to leave, but if I left, there is no money, and my ‘boss’ will be upset.’: Woman beats heroin addiction
“I begged my loving and supportive parents to please take me home. I begged and pleaded with my dad and promised I’d be good. But there were 11 charges, and a few were felonies. Bail was set at a million dollars.”
‘I took hostages everywhere I went, and the first one was my grandmother. Loving, kind, and elderly made her the perfect target for my addiction.’
“She gave me a car, a phone, and a bed to sleep in. In return I gave her lies, sleepless nights, and stole everything I possibly could.”
‘His mommy overdosed on heroin just feet away from him as he slept soundly in her bed.’
“I knew he was horrified by what happened and I didn’t care to belittle him or press the issue. What was done was done. At least that’s what I thought.”
‘I couldn’t do it anymore. I didn’t want to die. My son needed me.’ Single mom ‘didn’t choose to be an alcoholic’
“One glass of wine after work turned into three. Then turned into taking shots of vodka before work, going to get vodka on my lunch break, and driving home at night to have more alcohol.”
