Pretty Quiet

Growing up in Charlotte, NC, my childhood was everything one would think of as normal. I went to a great school, had plenty of friends, took vacations, and had a close connection with my parents. It was all a seemingly perfect set up for a successful adulthood.

But as senior year came to an end, and the familiarities of Charlotte began to fade, I entered a new space where love, depression, and a desperate search for purpose unraveled into a deep journey into drug and alcohol abuse.

For the next 11 years, I’d chase highs from any drug I could find, move locations, cheat, lie, and steal from those closest to me. With each passing day, I battled with the guilt and shame associated with my addiction.

It would take brushes with death and a fight with suicidal ideations for me to make the permanent change I needed. The change to sobriety.

This is my story.