Addiction: A Story Of A Mother Who Found Her Way Back

Tamara, WV

I was 16 when it all began. By hanging out with people much older than myself, I found

myself trying different things. There really isn’t any good answer for doing so other than I

enjoyed it at the time. I never thought things would get as bad as it did, but I found myself still doing questionable things a few years later for what I called fun.

I began another chapter when I was about 19, where not only was I using my drug of choice, meth, but was also also mixed up in the making of it. That itself was another addiction. I was in the contaminative process of using various drugs and also having babies.

By the time I was 25, I had 3 children that I neglected caring for. I thought they were better off by leaving them with friends and family. If it weren’t for people that cared for me and took care of them for me, I don’t know where we all would be today. I hit rock bottom so hard, that I laid in ICU for 5 days near death. You would think that would stop me from continuing this dangerous behavior but no, it didn’t. I eventually got better, left the hospital and went straight back to the meth house where again I hit rock bottom. I finally got to the point where I concluded that I had to get away from everything and everyone I knew or I was going to end up dead. So that’s what I did, I moved about an hour distance away from home, which is really not much of a difference. The town I moved to had the same problems and people, but I made an everyday choice to distance myself from anything and everything that could crumble my world back to pieces.

Being an addict never goes away. I still have nightmares and crave the taste, but I know in

my heart that returning to those habits can never happen again. So I stay close to my husband and my kids. I don’t talk to people if I don’t have to. I have one close friend. I choose this way of life for every day, so my kids have their mommy and my husband has his wife.

Being addicted to drugs and thinking your children are better off without you, is a deceit from the

drug. Those children want and long for the touch of their mother more than anything in this world. I thank God everyday for the people who helped me with my kids when I couldn’t even care for myself.

If you’re out there with a similar situation and you have kids, please get help. Do it for you first, then embrace your children and never let go. They need and want nothing more than the love of their mother.