Submitted By Ashley L

I was only 17

My addiction started when I was 17 years old I met a guy who was into using drugs and started using cocaine at 17 I come from a very normal home my father was a minister and my mother was a stay-at-home mom 18 I got pregnant with my first child I didn’t use when I was pregnant with him he was born 10 weeks early and only weighed 3 pounds I got pregnant a month after he was born and I had another son as well during this time I didn’t really use 18 months later I had a daughter when she was 6 weeks old I started taking prescription pain pills and smoking marijuana I can’t tell you when I really discovered that I was addicted by the time I knew it I couldn’t stop my kid’s dad was in and out of jail cps had got called and they drug tested me and I had to get clean or lose my kids.

30 days clean, free and clear…

I was clean for 30 days and they closed the case, probably 20 mins after they closed it I was using again. I stared stealing to afford my addiction and was caught I went to jail overnight and bonded out the next day and not even one month later I was caught again I spent 5 days in jail and was released while on probation I failed numerous drug test and spend a couple months in jail at a time I had to sign guardianship of my children over to their grandma my mother-in-law I served all my time in jail and was released without probation I really thought I was going to get out and get my life together and get my children back I stayed clean for about 3 months then ran into old friends and started using again by this time we are using heroin because it’s cheaper than pain pills I was out of jail for maybe a year using the whole time and having nothing to do with my children I worked at a hotel where I was stealing people’s credit card information I was picked up and questioned by police.

Something had to change

I knew I had to change this was not the life for me, I was staying with random people and I didn’t have a place to call home at one point I just wanted to die. I even told my mom that, because I was so low in my addiction that I thought everyone’s life would be a better place if I wasn’t around. I can only imagine what that did to my mother hearing me say that…. I started praying to God that I get to where I need to be in life and one day an old friend showed up to where I was staying (I don’t even know how he knew where I was) and offered to help me get treatment so I took it. It was Jan 27th 2014 my daughter’s birthday. I went to her party and left that night for rehab, I completed 30-day inpatient and by this time I had a warrant for my arrest I went home for 3 days spent time with my family and kids. And turned myself in though the jail. I was being charged with 16 counts of fraud and 16 counts of forgery. I thought I would never get out. In our county jail we have a program called j-cap and it’s like a drug treatment for people in jail I got into that program and I was in it for 11 months. I was sentenced to 2 years in prison and 10 year’s probation. I went to prison and was released.

I’m free in more ways than one

Since being out of prison I have bought my first house and got all my children back, which wasn’t easy. It was about a year after I got out that the judge gave my children back. I have worked at the same job since I got out and that’s never happened. My life has changed in so many ways. I am started to become a productive member of society. And a soccer mom again. I can’t even tell you how grateful I am for second chances I get threw everyday one day at a time. And if thats to hard I take it one hour at a time, because no matter how bad my day is if I didn’t pick up and use that day it was a great day! I have been clean since Jan 27th 2014.