Kellys Blog #2

"Remembering Where we Came From and Why we Started"

Hi everyone! I think nearly everyone that reads this has thought about “What would be the best way to make sure that all addicts/alcoholics and family members that needed help, received the help they need and deserve?“

 

Hope this blog finds everyone well!

 

My name is Kelly Kettle and there is not much special about me. I have no degrees in psychology or counseling. If I'm an expert at anything…. I am an expert at relapse and getting my butt kicked by drugs and alcohol repeatedly. I struggled in active addiction for many years.

 

Today, I know I’m not the only person who has been there…. and my story is not that unique. Most addicts, men or women, end up selling their bodies, selling drugs, or stealing often from the the easiest targets, our family and friends. I also know, and truly believe, that others afflicted with addiction that still have their families and or careers can suffer just as much if not more mentally, which is often worse.

 

Us addicts can affect the lives to up 20 people around us or more.

 

For me I had to loose everything and had a (last straw) nudge from the judge to remain clean/sober after detoxing in jail and then going to a state funded facility for 6 months. I was given a break, and looking back, there is little doubt it saved my life.

 

I had 7 1/2 months clean/sober in early 2004 when I met a man that offered me a job at a local treatment center as a driver. He asked if I had a valid drivers license. And I said yes! and I have not had a ticket in over 10 years I told him.

 

(He did not know I had just gotten my license back after a decade and not driving because my license was suspended.)

 

I started working as a driver and for the first 5 years I seemed to be just as much as a client as I was an employee. Coming in I had just about zero skills and everything was new clean/sober. Being on time to work, washing clothes, being showered, paying bills….. I ended up working for that facility for 9 years & 11 months. I was held accountable from day one. At first, it seemed they tested me, more than they tested the clients. I was finally clean/sober long enough to get well enough to realize how sick I really was and just how many times my life was speared. I began to think about others and had a sense that my life was not my own and I was spared for the reason of being a small part of building a (something) that may make a small difference in the world.

 

Something to help bridge the gap.

 

While working I ended up chasing clients, either off the beach, or all around Newport, sometimes into other counties and taking 100’s of men and women to detox. And as the years passed, I began to hear about the clients that had left and later died. Being active in our local recovery communities I would hear of many others that died.

 

I began listening to different speakers and watched men be of service like Vince Jones. My strongest influence was a man named Clancy Imislund. I learned that I was not the first to get sober and begin to form many different opinions. The thing that Mr. I. really made me think about is what is going on outside my 20 mile radius and when he talked about the percentages of addicts/alcoholics that will die in active addiction and why. I began to ask myself that question I opened up this blog with.

 

“What would be the best way to make sure that all addicts/alcoholics and family members that needed help, received the help they need? “

 

At 6 years clean/sober in 2011 we started our first Facebook group. My thought was to get as many people involved and archive as much experience, strength and hope as possible. And with a lot of help, the groups began to grow and then the pages grew and we began to take over other groups and pages.

 

The pages, groups and this blog are for families, friends and anyone challenged with drug or alcohol addiction/co-occurring disorders.

 

People that are in recovery are especially encouraged to participate!

 

That was the plan years ago, and some how I’ve seemed to get side tracked learning as we go, how to build and stabilize this network of around 6 million people now on the 4 FB pages and 4 FB groups.

 

We seem to be at a turning point with our pages and groups here on Facebook and Instagram, now reaching around 2 million people a day. And after weeks and months of stressing out about what to do….(Next) It hit me this morning to write honestly of why we started this project, and see what God has planned after me putting out to the world.

 

What are some of your thoughts and ideas of what to do with this network of 6 million people reaching around 20 million people each week, for the near future, and also make sure it continues to help people, long after I’m gone?

 

Please call or message me at - 949.274.3765 or message AddictsToday@gmail.com

 

I wish you all the happiness I wish for myself and more.

 

Kelly Kettle 

 

Wings of Encouragement
Facebook.com/DrugTreatment
and other pages