Hi, my name is Miranda, and this is my story.
I am 31 years old. My clean date is Aug. 1, 2018.
Growing up, I had a wonderful and loving childhood. I started to sneak around and smoke weed at the age of 12. By the time I was 14, I started to take my addiction to a new level. I started using meth and other substances.
By the time I was 17, my drug of choice was more. Then I got pregnant. It did slow me down for a short period of time, but I never completely stopped. I graduated high school and had my son at the age of 18. Over the next few years, I continued to use whatever drug I could get my hands on.
I lost my family, my son, and my father had passed away. I got even worse after my dad died. I tried to play it tough; using drugs helped me hide all of my grieving.
Time went on. I was in and out of treatment a time or two but did not want to be sober because that meant I had to get real with myself. Then a time came that it was not funny anymore. My disease was at its worst.
I lost everything I loved and people I cared about. Some even passed away. I then realized that I was sick and tired of sleeping on the floor of my rock bottom. You see, I had been at rock bottom for a long time, but my disease would tell me that is where I was always going to be.
But that day a switch happened in me, and God himself took me by the hand. It was time. I then signed up for treatment with ARC (Addiction Recovery Care) Centers. The welcoming and love that I received coming through those doors is another story by itself.
I kept pushing and showing up for each day no matter how tired or dope sick I was. Staying drug free is the easy part. Dealing with my past, my choices, and myself was the mountain that I then had to climb.
Now, almost three and a half years later, I can say that God has really showed up and showed out in my life. He is my everything today.
I have my home, life, and my family back. I am a peer support specialist, college student, leader, member of a beautiful church, friend, sister, mother, daughter and, most of all, I am a child of God. Today I work as Lead Intake Coordinator for ARC, and I am majoring in human resource leadership.
I still have a long way to go, but I am so far from what I was. Thank you for letting me share my story.
