There is a moment in every recovery story when you realize that in order to get sober, you have to absolutely surrender everything. I hit that moment after trying for a year and a half to get sober on my own. I did everything I thought I was “supposed” to do: AA meetings, a sponsor, white‑knuckling my way through nights - I simply could not stay sober. I was physically, emotionally, and mentally addicted to alcohol and prescription pills, and I was too sick to even realize the depth of my deception.

When I finally hit rock bottom, my son, Davis, was about ten months old. I would put him to bed, then go into my closet, where I basically had a full bar hidden behind my evening gowns, and drink alone.

My turning point came on New Year’s Day. I really believe it was a spiritual intervention. I knew that no resolution or dream could come true as long as alcohol was in my life. I also knew that if I didn’t come clean that day, I might never do it. So I told my husband the truth, that I’d been lying for months and that I needed help. It was humbling and terrifying, but it was the beginning of honesty.

Over time, my perspective on addiction has completely shifted. I used to be angry, “Why me? Why is it everyone else can drink, and I can’t?” Now I’m actually grateful I’m an alcoholic. I genuinely believe that those of us in recovery get to experience life on a deeper, more soulful level. We are forced to sit with our feelings, to do the internal work, to take off the masks. That can be excruciating, but it’s also where the beauty is. I see sobriety as a superpower now.

Strong Like a Mother means giving women the chance to reclaim their dignity, and change not just their own lives, but their families’ lives too.

Addiction doesn’t look like one person under a bridge with a paper bag. It looks like all of us, mothers, professionals, women with privilege, women with none. Your donation to Nexus makes recovery possible for so many women: a safe, loving place to step out of the prison of addiction and into a new life, not just for themselves, but for their children and the generations to come.