Renita: My name is Renita and this is my daughter Katy. I battled addiction for eleven years and to the outside world I had it all. I was a nurse, married, two children, a home and cars. My addiction to pain medication began when I was injured and had three major surgeries within six months. I knew I was in no shape to care for patients, so I let my nursing license lapse. After my marriage fell apart and my grandson passed away in my arms, I began to spiral. My daughter Katy was spiraling also.
Katy: I grew up as a preacher’s daughter. My drug addiction began when I was sixteen and I decided to do life my own way. I got pregnant at seventeen and got married. My husband and I have four children together. On December 16, 2012, my second son passed away. At that point I had a choice to make. I could turn to God or I could turn to drugs. I turned to drugs and blamed God for taking my son from me. A few years later my husband spent two years in jail due to bad choices.
Renita: I kept telling Katy that she needed to get help. But how could I tell her to get help when I wasn’t willing to get help myself? I remember my cousin Tammy putting Union Mission’s phone number and little notes everywhere. She would say, “I love you. God loves you. You need help!” I would find Union Mission’s phone number on the milk, the salt and pepper shakers and even inside the cabinet doors. After my mother passed away, I ran out of excuses. I entered Union Mission’s Addiction Recovery Program for women on April 9, 2018.
Katy: I really didn’t think my mom would last in the program and gave her two days. To my surprise, she stayed. My mom kept messaging me that I needed to get help and I kept refusing her. Eventually I lost my children and that was my rock bottom. I had hit a place where everything I loved and everything that mattered to me had been lost or taken away. I remember crying out to God and asking him to deliver me and on October 22, 2018, I decided it was time to get help. I came to Union Mission and they welcomed me with open arms.
Renita: My first six weeks in the program were unbearable for me and everyone in the house. Since I was older and had a career, I put myself on a bit of a pedestal. I had so much anger and resentment. I wanted to blame everybody and not take responsibility for my part in things. On May 12, I was so miserable
that I got down beside my bed and begged God to either take this anger and resentment away from me or to just take me. It wasn’t about the addiction at that point. It was about what led me into my addiction. That’s when I finally got my breakthrough. Within days the staff noticed a major change in me. Since then God has been full force and I give Him all the glory.
Katy: Being in recovery together has been interesting. Mom is active in her recovery and I’m active in my recovery so sometimes working through things from the past can get a little hard and ugly. We both know, however, that it’s for our own benefit and emotional health. We know now to reign it back in and let our
tempers cool and to end with a hug and a kiss.
Renita: Right now I am interning at Union Mission and have turned in my application for a possible job opportunity here. I recently got my nursing license back even though it may not be something I go back to full time.
Katy: Union Mission has helped me become the woman God wants me to be. They are invested and they are real. If you start to struggle, there is always someone there to pick you up. I have my sisters now and I didn’t have that before. I recently interviewed for a job and will start orientation towards the end of the month. God is just good!
Renita: I made the choice to make bad decisions and now I am making the choice to spend the rest of my life serving God and giving Him the glory. If it wasn’t for Union Mission following what God would have them to do and the people here, I would probably be dead right now. I am so thankful God never gave up on us as a family. I have my daughter, my grandchildren and my son. Life is good again and worth living.
Katy: My mother is a great example to me. If it wasn’t for her recovery, I would have never come into recovery myself. This will be the first Mother’s Day since I was sixteen that we have both been sober and this is going to be the best one yet! We have each other, we both are sober, and we are both living for the Lord. How can it get any better than that?
