In an effort to put a face on addiction, FortThomasMatters.com is documenting her journey. It's real and raw and relevant. She is our Northern Kentucky neighbor. She is our heroine. Her story is important.
Here's Mel:
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First, thank you all for those who have read the first part
of my story and are interested in the rest. I figure I should share how this
all began and what my life was like growing up.
I was raised by loving parents
and I have a sister that is five years older than me. Nothing happened to me as
a child that I can blame any of my life choices on. I had a great childhood and
was shown plenty of love. I was very active in soccer and strived to be the
best; a character defect that I fight with still today.
My inner spiritual
maladies appeared at a very young age. As a child I would throw temper tantrums
when things didn’t go my way and always had to be the center of attention
whether it was in a good way or bad. I
have no idea how my mother survived my childhood especially my teenage years.
God must have carried her through, because I treated her horribly as I got more
and more defiant and out of control.
I went to school and fought it every step
of the way, the only thing I looked forward to was soccer. My freshman year I
tried out for the High School team and didn’t make it, to say the least I was
absolutely devastated. No longer having
soccer in my life gave me plenty of time to myself and that was absolutely the
last place I wanted to be….alone.
I
began drinking and drugging in my spare time because it was a release from
self. The drugs that were popular in the 1990’s were pot and LSD, neither hard
to find. I got my first DUI when I was 16 years old coming home from a party I
was drunk and on acid. The phone call to my parents was definitely not a
pleasant one. I was put on probation. My parents didn’t know what to do with
me, they put in a hospital for adolescents with “issues” this was to be the
first of many trips to Behavioral Health units.
I never saw how much my
drinking was affecting my family and how it began to dominate my life……
This continues to be one of the best features on FTM. Thanks Melissa! You're a strong person to share these details. I hope there will be a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteAs a Fort Thomas mother with a child who has a problem with addiction, I can vouch for these feelings. It can happen anywhere and as a community we need to hot this problem in the mouth instead of wishing it to go away.
ReplyDeleteThanks Melissa for sharing your story. I'd live to hear more next time.
Thanks Melissa and Thanks Fort Thomas MAttters. I saw your magazine, by the way. I've been reading for a long time. You do a great job for the coomnuity. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I don't know if you have access to the site, but I'd love to read more of your story. I'm going through the same sort of thing right now.
ReplyDeleteI know Mark wants to keep this anonymous on your end, but your story is speaking directly to me.
Keep rocking it girl.