I love all types of music including classic rock, classical, country, pop, opera, blues, and jazz. It just depends on my mood at the moment whether I am listening to the Moody Blues, Boz Scaggs, Triumph, Pink Flloyd, Phantom of the Opera, or Santana.

Since I have been in school for the last six years, the only books I have been reading are called textbooks. I do remember the days when I would choose authors such as Steven King, Dean Koontz, and John Grisham.

Movies have become my new escapism from studying. When I do not have chapters to read, papers to write, or other responsibilities hanging over my head, I love to watch a movie. Since being a truck driver, I began buying movies and now own over 400. I watch everything from Walt Disney to Saw.

Since I do not have too much free time, I would say my only hobby at this time is sleeping.

Besides, growing up with an alcoholic father, I learned early that it was more important what people thought rather than what actually was happening behind closed doors.At the age of fourteen with my first kiss and date, I became pregnant, but of course I lied and allowed dad to believe I was raped. Of course the child was put up for adoption, there was no discussion, I was told what to do, and I watched out the window as my newborn was driven out of my life.I married right out of high school because that is what you are supposed to do, right, besides he asked, and it got me out of the house and I am pretty sure I really loved him, besides who else would want me. One night after a severe beating, I left our residence at 2am in February, leaving our son there because I believed it was best for him,and lost my son due to abandonment. I think I could have dealt with the divorce, but I hit bottom with losing my son and especially the thought of what other people must be saying and thinking of me. I detached from everyone and everything except for alcohol and drugs. Where once I would crawl around on a kitchen floor looking and hoping that I had dropped a piece of crack cocaine, the time that I overdosed on heroin laying on the bed thinking “this will be a nice way to die, so peaceful.” slowly I learned to be comfortable around other people as acquaintances again through my job as a cashier, then manager which I then changed to an account executive in a pharmaceutical company. However, I was not as strong as I thought and backslide into my old ways when I began to have an abundance of money, so I lost ground for a couple of years.while I was cross-country truck driving, what a wonderful God we have and what a beautiful country we live in. Sitting inside a truck driving through the mountains of Wyoming with the wildlife, all I could think about was that this is God’s country and all my heart could desire was peace. In August 2002, driving back home to Illinois from visiting family in New York, only thirty miles from my house I went into a grand mal seizure and ran my vehicle into a bridge. This is when God decided it was time for some drastic changes in my life, if I was not going to do it on my own. Since I was driving seventy miles an hour, my vehicle was naturally totaled, but I did not have one scratch on me. However I lost my driver’s license which meant I lost my job, credit, home, everything, and was forced to call the family I had distanced myself from and ask for their help to come and pick me and my belongings up and let me live with one of them. Talk about humbling, embarrassing, infuriating! I have since completely devoted my life to learning what I can about my purpose in life, who I am, and how I got here - thus my BS in Religion from Liberty and serving God however I can.
I volunteered as a Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and Awana teacher, assistant director, and director as I finished by BS, and then went on to attain my MA in Human Services with Marriage & Family Therapy. I was slowly building up my self-confidence and when a group dynamics course required I begin a group, I chose a woman’s 12-step meeting which I facilitated for over 18 months. I finished my masters one year after starting it, graduated with a 4.0, and firmly believed I would be able to walk into a career the moment I finished my degree, but I was sorely mistaken! I could not find even an interview, let alone a position, partially because as a distance learning student I had not been given practical experience. I applied to to a local university's Mental Health Counseling program so I would obtain practical experience and have a their backing to enter an internship, but was not accepted right away. So, I took a personal loan out and entered CASAC (alcohol and substance abuse counselor) training which I was informed would give me the appropriate networking and possibly an internship.

This shows nothing is impossible, although things may be hard and you will definitely want to quit at times, anyone is able to succeed. Sobriety, serenity, forgiveness, and compassion are attributes each person with a substance abuse problem is capable of achieving. We need to focus on the steps, work the program which is not easy, but it does work. Serving others and keeping our sights on them, not ourselves, is how we will survive. It is not through isolation or curling up in a fetal position, although I admit there are days I still have to fight not to do that, but I have people I can rely on to kick me in the butt to move!

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