Since being at The Last House, a lot has changed. My relationship with my family has grown, but more importantly my relationship with myself has changed. Before coming to The Last House, I was in a very dark place. My life slightly changed when I tried getting sober for the first time in 2015. I was not prepared for what was to come, not capable of using the tools I had, and to reach out for help in the community I had built. After getting in trouble with the law, losing both my mother and father all in a couple of years, I’d lost all hope to live for anything. I lost my identity and lost the people closest to me too; at the point all I knew was to turn to drugs. I ended up destroying all relationships with friends in the program and with my siblings as well. I had no life skills, could not hold a job, and just lost connection with everything. I was all alone. However, I couldn’t take it anymore and I finally asked for help. I got another chance at life and was sent to The Last House.
When I arrived at The Last House, I had a terrible outlook on life, a bad attitude, and a behavior that was getting me nowhere. Being in The Last House has changed a lot in me which is not easy to admit. This was a place I did not want to be at but needed to anyway. It took a lot of sweat and tears to get to where I am at now (with the help of The Last House community). I finally put my guard down, stopped fighting against the people who only wanted to help—and took their suggestion. I needed the structure of being pushed to my limits. I needed to be broken down and then lifted back up, but that was not easy. Most importantly, I needed the 12 steps – that was one of the things missing in my recovery from the past. From all of those times trying to get sober, I had never completed the steps and this time it has completely changed my life. I really had to be pushed, even forced, to do the things I did not want to do and for me that was what I needed. All I ever wanted was to be self-sufficient, independent, happy, content, present, and have a relationship with the family that I still have – my two brothers and two sisters who have been a big part of my recovery.
This is just the beginning — these challenges and opportunities don’t stop. I am always going to be growing as a person and challenged in life but being at The Last House has given me more tools than I ever had along with the ability to use them. I am grateful for everything that has happened in my life, good and bad.