A Woman’s Tale –

April 2, 2020 – I instantly felt a rush of energy and … happiness. From then on and for the next few years, I used only on an occasional weekend: I was going to college and wasn’t going to let my use interfere.

I was almost done with my medical assistant degree though when I began using more to help me stay up to study. 

Then I started to use every day. I ended the term with a C average. 

My using continued for many years after that. So in 2005 I went to my first in-patient treatment. I had a son who was 15 months old, and it was time to grow up and be a mother. I worked full-time and took care of my son, but I was a functioning addict. And a mom. 

By the summer of 2010 I was supposed to do 20 days in the Anoka County workhouse for a DUI charge I’d gotten for driving during an Ambien blackout. I never made it to the workhouse though: I relapsed on meth and a warrant was put out for my arrest.

@OZY