We do recover! Childhood trauma, drug addictions, physical and mental abuse, these are ailments many face in their everyday lives. These are the very hurdles I have overcome in my life. The person I am today is a far cry from the person I once was. I was the little girl who was abused by her parents as a child. The girl who was shown the way to deal with any frustration was through violence and pain. From birth to age 15 I was physically and emotionally abused at the hands of the men in my life. Abuse in all forms from broken bones and bruises to being told that I would never amount to anything. These things resignated with me into adulthood. I didn't know how to face myself or those around me in my 20's. So instead of really dealing with the problems I chose to numb myself. I got into drugs to escape my reality. The only time I felt ok, was when I was high and I no longer had the flashbacks of a childhood riddled with abuse. That lead me to trouble with the law and institutions. It wasn't until everything was striped from me that I could clearly see that I needed to heal the trauma. One day all alone in a holding cell in a county jail, I found the only way I could truly heal my pain. That day, i surrendered myself to the plan God had for me. I sat alone in that cell, on the concrete floor. I dropped my head and I said the only prayer I ever truly meant up to that moment in my life. I spoke to God as if he was sitting in the cell next to me. I said "God, my back hurts so badly, I'm so broken, I'm so lost, please God please just take my life." What happened then wasn't the death I was praying for. What happened was a physical TOUCH in the center of my spine. I felt a HAND. All 5 fingers. My physical pain, it vanished. I couldn't believe it. Even now, I know how crazy this sounds, but as sure as I'm breathing right now, it happened. That was only the first step in changing my life. That step proved to me without a shadow of a doubt, that God had been with me throughout my entire childhood. I began pouring out my soul each and every day. I got involved with a counselor and mentors. I began reading all the literature I could find on overcoming trauma. I began reading the Bible and participating in ministry. I began to see the path God meant for me to take. Today I am nearly 8 years clean and sober. Today I can look at myself in the mirror. Today I can live the life I was meant to live instead of escaping the life I once had to endure. Today I can LIVE not just simply survive. Healing myself has healed every relationship in my life, with my family and with God. I am now seeking to further my education. I am pursuing a degree in business. I want to be someone who can give people a second chance in society. My husband's father owns a small restaurant where I live. I'm currently employed there, but I want to own a business of my own. I want to hire people who are overcoming their past experiences. I want to be able to help those people so they can also say, we do recover.