My addiction manifested early in life, between the ages of 12 and 13, blacking out after consumption almost every time I used. I should have known I was doomed from the first few times, and that it would be a constant problem in my life. From one drug to the next, the obsession would take over and I would put it in front of my family, my friends and myself.
When I was 21, I decided I was done with messing up my life and quit using ‘the hard stuff’. I continued to dabble in more natural things, using more accessible drugs and always overusing that liquid drug daily. Things seemed stable enough and life moved on at a manageable pace, eventually getting married and becoming a mom to two. My addiction continuously progressed and when I was 29, I found myself leaving my family in the middle of the night in search of that hard stuff I ‘quit’ so many years prior.
After leaving that night for about two days with no explanation, I expected to come home with no repercussions. Even though I was very, VERY lucky that my husband did let me back in our house, we knew that something had to change fast or I would be watching my kids grow up from afar. This would be the point where, for the first time, I said “I am an addict and I need help”.
Through my work, things were getting sorted out for me to attend Westminster House Society in the near future. The couple of months between me admitting my problem and that phone call I was so happy to get, I tried to quit everything on my own. Things were completely unmanageable and I found out fast that my body relied on some of those substances to the point where I was ill without. I was a prisoner.
Leaving my family for three months was the hardest thing I have had to do, but I am SO grateful for what Westie House has done for me. Not only am I over six months clean from all mind-altering substances, but I am also the mother that I thought I was before I left. I can say I am physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually present for everything that happens in my life and that means the world to me.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart Westminster House. With the help of all the loving staff and the women that surrounded me, I have my life back and I have the parts of me back that were lost so long ago.
-Cydney S.