Remember Your Why

Lisa was a binge drinker who, after years and years of addiction , got to the point where she wanted to die. She laid down in the middle of a street hoping that would be the end. That is where her disease took her. To the darkest parts of her mind. 
Listen to her story and how she overcame her crippling past and has been living a life in recovery for 30 years. 

John turned to alcohol and drugs at a young age. His addiction quickly progressed from beer and pot, to oxy's, cocaine, crack and heroin. It got to the point where he needed it all to function. One night of partying changed everything for him. 

Now he is living his best life, traveling and sharing his strength and recovery wherever he goes. He is another example that recovery is possible and sobriety is a beautiful thing. 

Geri's son Greg struggled with drug addiction for half his life. At 15, he began smoking marijuana, but that turned quickly to heroin and becoming hooked on fentanyl. He overdosed multiple times and thankfully survived, but it was never enough to scare him from picking back up again.
Institutions, jails, rehabs... Greg was at them all, and they all worked at the time, but every time he got out, something triggered him and he went right back to using. It is a vicious cycle and one he could not stop. 
Geri has done all she could possibly do, but if the addict does not want to stop, there's only so much you can do. It's choices Greg made that got him to where he is now, which is still in the throes of addiction. But Geri will never give up on her son. She will keep trying and won't ever lose hope. 

For Danielle, her biggest trigger was physical pain. She became addicted to pills for years and developed such a high tolerance that she needed more and more until it got to be too much. Her marriage was falling apart, she was losing her job, wasn't speaking to her family, and had a young son to think of.  She looked at herself one day in the mirror and told herself that she could go buy heroin, since the pills got too expensive, even though that was the one thing she said she'd never try.  Our addiction plays games with us & hers was working overtime. Listen to her story… 

For Garry, beer progressed quickly to hard liquor, and he started to isolate, hide bottles, and drink around the clock. His thoughts became absolutely dominated by drinking. That, along with the fear of losing his wife, was when he knew he could not continue on like he was and made the conscious decision to stop and get sober. 

One of the most memorable things Garry said in his interview was this: If I could pull out my happiness and the feeling of having put together a little bit of sober time and give it to someone who is struggling... and say here, feel that feeling and know that that's ahead of you if you stick it out and find your happy. 

For Melissa, alcohol became the way of life for her. With it she escaped all emotions and it became the solution for everything happening in her life.

She drank a liter of vodka everyday, her body shut down and she suffered seizures. She ended up being hospitalized, intubated with restraints on. That was her rock bottom. 

Now, over five years sober, a registered nurse and married with a baby, she is able to enjoy all that life has to offer. She is living proof that you can turn your life around and make that positive change. 

Brian is a retired paramedic and firefighter who struggles with both addiction and mental health. He believes it is important for those of us taking care of ourselves get our stories out there to show that recovery is possible. 

After totaling 12 cars due to drinking, passing out drunk while watching his daughter,  dealing with untreated mental health, and self-sabotaging his life, he realized something had to give. He decided to get sober and get treatment for his health in order to make the positive changes to better himself, better his life, so he could be the best father and person he could be. He realized he was enough. 

For Logan, alcohol and drugs "fixed" everything that he thought was wrong with him. 
He was on a never ending hamster wheel that eventually led to him living out of his car, selling his belongings, and turning to heroin, which was something he thought he'd never do. Music ended up being what ultimately saved his life. 

Now he gives back and talks at high schools to teenagers to let them know that it's okay to talk about their feelings and their mental health. That is so important to be discussed and not brushed under the rug, because it is imperative in fighting the addiction epidemic. 

Andrea believed she was just the components of what she made up. She felt she was an incomplete person, and that God made her and forgot to finish.  After a lifetime of drinking around the clock she was faced with an intervention by her family and friends, which ultimately saved her life.  

Self medicating with alcohol and drugs was the vicious cycle Mike could not get out of. It took being arrested and being homeless for him to wake up and realize that this would be his life if he did not change.  Relapse was a part of his story, but he never gave up. He started to take suggestions and became teachable.  One day at a time.