In October 2012, she lost her brother to a drug overdose. But she spiraled further into addiction, and it took another seven months for Anna Boley to hit rock bottom and admit to herself that she had an addiction. Her clean date is July 7, 2013.
Anna had been to treatment twice – once for a five-day detox when she was 19 and another 30-day treatment when she was 22. Both times, her parents paid the full expenses. Both times, she returned to using heroin, pills, pot and alcohol.
She also was cited four times for DUI and spent two weeks in jail 8 years ago.
“It wasn’t much of a life,” Anna says. “My time revolved around getting drugs, using and getting more. I felt alone and ran off anybody that cared about me because I didn’t care about myself. I’d always tried to rationalize that I didn’t have a problem.”
After her brother died, her parents told her that they weren’t going to “enable her to death.” They closed the door to her unless and until she went into treatment again.
“I woke up one morning after using all night,” she said. “I tried to steal drugs from my drug dealer, and the dealer kicked me out. I had nowhere else to go. That was my bottom.”
With the help of a UNITE treatment voucher, Anna entered Hope in the Mountains in Prestonsburg and was in treatment for six months.
“Thank God for Operation UNITE,” Anna says. “My parents were done paying. I was able to get a voucher. After treatment, I got an apartment in Prestonsburg and stayed for a year and a half. I still commute there once a week to work at a spa.”
“I have a life that I couldn’t imagine for myself. Since I’ve been clean, I met my husband, who just celebrated 8 years clean. We have a 2-year-old daughter. We’re homeowners in Winchester, and I work for two different spas, where they have entrusted me with their keys. I also have a relationship with my family. My dad passed away in September, but I was able to get through it clean and be there for my mom and sisters. My dad was able to see me clean and be proud of me.”
She takes a selfie every year on her clean date and shows how many years she has. On July 7, 2019, she’ll have to have someone take the picture for her since she will need to use both hands!
Recovery is something that Anna works at every day.
“Hope in the Mountains introduced me to a 12-step program. I continue to go to meetings – even on vacation, even on my honeymoon. I put it in front of everything in my life continually. It’s so crucial to getting and staying clean. I tell myself ‘just for today, I’m going to stay clean and work on my recovery.’ I’ve accumulated a lot of todays.”
Anna also gives back by being of service to the 12-step program to which she belongs. She assists in bringing the program into places such as hospitals and jails, where people are unable to travel to meetings. She recently helped take a meeting into Fayette County Detention Center. The cell they were sent into was the last cell where she served time.