Living Life After Meth

It took me down fast and hard and stripped me of everything I ever loved, including myself. It left me with nothing but the pain I was originally trying to numb. It took my job, my car, my house, my marriage and my precious kids. I hit my rock-bottom living in an old beat up Chevy van in the Walmart parking lot exhausted,, freezing, and starving. It was a very cold night in December, pouring down rain, almost 3 o’clock in the morning and I had to pee. It was in that moment, squatting between two bushes in the parking lot with the coldest soaking rain relentlessly beating down on me, that God opened my eyes and I saw what I had become. I saw the addict, the one I denied I was. It was the most terrifying and painful thing I’ve ever seen. Truth and reality slammed into me at the exact same time and they hit so hard that it opened the door to freedom and hope for me. That was 18 years ago.

After that night, I fought back with everything that was in me and rebuilt my life. It was a very slow and painful process but it was also the most exhilarating and rewarding. Refusing to quit and refusing to give up, I powered through detox, withdrawals, cravings, and Temptations that were absolutely relentless. I just kept moving forward, absolutely refusing to even entertain the thought of going back. And my perseverance and dedication to my recovery rewarded me with my husband coming back, a great job, a new place, and awarded me full custody of my kids again. I was so dedicated and passionate about my recovery it lead to the creation of Living Life After Meth. Designed to encourage addicts in recovery to continue sharing their stories of triumph over addiction and alcoholism. Unfortunately, addiction isn’t something that’s easily brought up in casual conversation making it difficult to share, encourage and inspire those who desperately need to hear that there is hope. So I came up with Recovery Studio. Created to showcase a wide variety of everyday products, each one bears a uniquely created design centered around recovery. The point of Recovery Studio is to provide what I call “conversation starters”. My designs are guaranteed to turn heads and raise eyebrows. The result is people coming up to you and asking about your shirt or hat or bag which throws the door wide open to share your story. It’s crucial that we spread the word that recovery DOES work and show those who are still using that there IS hope, you CAN quit, and encourage them to do so. I am also big on raising awareness to the ever growing overdose epidemic that has gripped our communities and shattered families all over the world, mine included. Together we can make a difference!!