my name is marie and i am an addict. 12 years ago i put my self in rehab. of my own free will. i had, had enough. everybody told me i would never make it. well i showed them. when i left rehab i found a NA schedule. i was new to the town i was living in. but there were a few streets i could remember around time. so i got lost a lot. but i would eventually find my way to a meeting. sometimes two or three a day, everyday for for first year. i only did women's meetings for five years. so i could learn from those who came before me. how to be a respected woman in recovery. as time went by i got a sponsor and a higher power i could work with.? i dug in deep on every step i worked. i wanted that disgusting stufff out of my heart and soul that had kept me sick for so long. magical changes started to happen with in myself. when i first got clean, i just wanted to stop using. as i worked the steps i relized so much more about life and what i wanted to do in it. i raised my son and daugher in the rooms of recovery.? i always thought i was too old by the time i got clean to be somebody that meant something to the world. boy was i wrong. i soon discovered i wanted to help others like myself. so i returned back to school. once again thinking i wasn't good enough, or smart enough. wrong again!? at the end of this year i will be a college graduate. who would of thought. a dope fiend from the street. i stayed single my whole recovery and just worked on myself. someday if it was meant to be a would have the man i so deserved. in 2009 god sent him to me. we are like 2 peas in a pod. he is everything i ever wanted and so much more than i could ever dream for. we got married a couple of?years later. which i swore i would never do:) in 2013 god blessed us with the oppertunity to own our own home. paid in full with our savings. these are just a few of the miracles that have happened in my life due to narcotics anonymous and my journey in recovery. i hope my message helps at least one person believe enough in themselves to give recovery a chance to save their lives.