Replies to '02/21 The Dr. Phil House: Heroin Twins Follow-up'

After watching the girls on the show today, I remembered how proud I was the day I graduated from Rehab in S. Fla.

I was 35 yrs old, mother of 2 grown boys and hurricane Andrew hit S Fla/  I had many friends that were in the same situation that I was in as far as a home goes........except my husband brought home a "friend" that the hurricane demolished his house and since he had a son, I said that he could stay with us for a few days.  That is where I was introduced to crack cocaine.  I was an office manager for a Surgeon, who I ended up writing bad checks out and after ,bout 5 years of drugging and getting money anywhere Family, Friends and even stealing from my boss, I was arrested!  For Gods sake, this was not me, I was the baseball MOM!  I then was put on probation and eventually violated for being dirty.  I was sent to jail for 8 days, when I released, went back to the same thing.  Again, I came up dirty and that was when I was sent to a drug rehab.  When I first went in and they told me I would be there 9 months, I thought they were out of their mind!  I can remember this as if it was yesterday, I had been there for 3 months and was standing in the shower when it finally hit me, HEY, I DO BELONG HERE!  After that, the rehab was a breeze.  When I got out, I had nothing, but within 2 weeks, I mananged to find a small house and a 450. car to get to work, only to realize that my husband was still using.  I had a good job, packed up everything that would fit into my car and moved to another state.  I am presently  a HR manager for a lg company and am a VERY proud grandma.

What I am getting at, is, that there are days that I do not even think about those days, but I deep  down I will never forget.  I recently received a promotion at work and sent the email that was sent to all of my co-workers from my boss to my parents.  They were so very proud, my mom must have forwarded that email to everyone I have ever known.  To me just that alone was enough to keep me clean.  It has been 10 years now, and I will be 50 yrs old in a few months, but like I said in the very beginning, I will never forget the proud feeling that I had when I left rehab.  Girls, keep up the good work, no it will not be easy dealing with real life, you just learn to cope.  Keep your chin up, your head held high and plan one day at a time.