I am a person in long-term recovery, which for me means that I haven’t used substances for more than 11 years. Recovery has changed my life.

Alcohol never appealed to me, but when the “hippie era” started, I experimented with everything. I met a Marine veteran who was also experimenting with drugs and soon found myself using opiates. We got married and had a son. Throughout my son’s childhood, we were able to keep the drugs in the background, but when he graduated and moved away, we didn’t have to hide our drug use anymore. Eventually, we realized that heroin was running our life.

When my husband went to rehab, I went to buy drugs one last time. Coming back, the Vermont drug task force was waiting for me. I was sentenced to a 9-month drug program located in the Federal Correctional Institution in Connecticut. I walked in and saw three tiers of bars. I felt as though I was in a bad TV movie.

On my third day in the drug unit, I was called to the chaplain’s office and was told that my husband of 30 years had overdosed and died the night before. This finally made me aware of what my addiction could do to me. It took me to jails, institutions, and near death, but I knew I wanted to live.

When I went home to continue a life in recovery, I was hired for a fantastic job. I still work at the peer-based Kingdom Recovery Center, and I have been the president of Vermont Recovery Center Network numerous times over the past several years.

I am a now a respected member of my community, and one day at a time, I work to stay on the path of recovery. Life is good.