Mother's Day is a little extra special for Amethyst Place graduate Julia after the trials she has overcome.
A hard-earned Mother's Day celebration for Amethyst Place grad Julia
I fell really hard into my addiction in 2012, right after I had my second child, BrookLynn. I was in a bad relationship and didn’t feel good enough. The drugs numbed that pain. I would get clean for a little while, but then would be right back to it. In 2015, my children were taken from me by DFS. I was devastated and felt like the world was against me, including my family. All those emotions led me deeper into my addiction. I finally went to treatment in January of 2016. I would see girls at NA meetings that lived at Amethyst Place, and I knew that is where I needed to be to get my life and kids back. I fell off again for a few months and went back to treatment in May of 2016. This time around, I knew I wanted to get my life back and I again, saw the same girls at NA meetings that lived at AP. They all seemed so happy, and I wanted that, BAD. While I was in treatment the second time, I was adamant to get into Amethyst. I filled out an application while I was in treatment and had my interview in July. I was denied the first time around because I hadn’t had 30 days clean. That didn’t stop me from wanting to live there. I knew I was meant to be there. I waited a few more weeks and went in for my second interview. I remember walking into that office with all these confident women, and I knew I needed to be confident in myself. I got in! It was the BEST feeling in the world. It felt like the greatest accomplishment I had done for the year of 2016.
My relationship with my mother has changed drastically since I came to AP. We can actually have open and honest conversations now. We laugh together, we joke around, we cry, we vent. I know that she is no longer stressed and worried about what I am doing. We talk every single morning on my way into work, and that is my favorite part of the day. If anything happens in my life, she is the first person I call. And she always answers the phone. She can count on me, and I can count on her.
Being a mother to me is my life. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I love that there isn’t a book on motherhood. You learn something new every single day. I never would have thought I would have children, but now I don’t know what my life would be without my kids. Being a mother is learning how to multitask, how to nurture, and how to have patience. My children teach me something about myself every day.
Oh man, parenting at Amethyst. I learned a lot. I learned to have structure for them. It was rocky for the first couple of weeks getting into a routine, but we got it figured out. I learned to have patience and how to deal with tantrums. I learned that each of my children was different and I had to handle each child in a different way.
My hope that I have for BrookLynn and my two boys is that they live their lives to the fullest. That they always believe in themselves in anything that they do. Even if they fail, they will take it as a life lesson and do better the next time. I hope that they know I will ALWAYS be there for them, no matter what the situation. I will never turn my back on them.
I am currently living in a house in Kansas City, Missouri. I am now working for Comprehensive Mental Health Services (the other place that helped save me!) full time. Even though I work full time, I am still working on my associate's degree in Criminal Justice. I have to say that I never thought I would ever go back to school, but Amethyst made me believe I could do it. So here I am doing it!
Your support can help Amethyst Place provide even more opportunities for family healing and recovery just like Julia and her children had. Consider making a gift today to honor a special mother figure in your life!
