Victoria shares her journey of growing up in a chaotic family, experiencing abuse and trauma, and turning to alcohol and drugs as a way to cope. She talks about her struggle with self-esteem and finding her identity through substance abuse. Eventually, she moves to Philadelphia with a guy she meets and continues her destructive behavior. She then shares her experience of going to Hawaii and receiving a devastating phone call from her boyfriend, which leads to her being stuck in Hawaii and having to navigate the challenges of finding medical help. Victoria shares her journey of addiction and recovery, highlighting the challenges and blessings she has experienced along the way. She discusses her early days in recovery, including finding a sponsor and working the steps. Victoria emphasizes the importance of being accountable to another person and the role of spirituality in her recovery. She also shares the greatest gift of recovery for her, which is being a sober mother to her daughter. Victoria encourages listeners to take recovery one step at a time and not rush the process. A mainstay of our recovery stories is being completely honest with our support teams but, most importantly, honest with ourselves. How do we do that? The answer is simple: we journal about our experiences, ideas, and goals. If you are anything like us, that means you journal A LOT and take a bunch of notes, so don’t you deserve a great writing instrument? We think you do, and so does the sponsor of the Awake and Sober Podcast Tactile Turn.  If you have yet to use a Tactile Turn pen, let’s be honest: are you even writing?!? 00:00Introduction and Shoutouts 03:04Growing up in a Chaotic Family 09:15Finding Comfort and Growth in Celebrate Recovery 12:40Growing Celebrate Recovery in a Healthy and Sustainable Way 18:31Root Causes of Addiction 25:20Moving to Philadelphia and Escalating Addiction 28:47Devastating News in Hawaii 30:04Stranded in Hawaii and Finding Love 32:56Meeting Her Husband and Early Years of Marriage 34:19Struggles and Addiction During Her Husband’s Deployment 35:41The Insanity of Addiction and the Desire for Sobriety 38:05The Importance of Sponsorship and Steps in Recovery 40:14The Shift to Embracing Sobriety and Spirituality 52:13The Gift of Being a Sober Parent 56:20Taking Recovery One Step at a Time        Sound Bites ”I never felt like I was heard. I never felt seen. I never felt, you know, wanted. I had no self-esteem whatsoever, but if I drank, then I was myself.” ”I got your best friend pregnant and you have chlamydia.” ”Did your best friend give him chlamydia and knock her up?” ”To be a sober mom. That’s easy.” ”All it took was a mustard seed, a mustard seed to say, ’Okay, God, I’m going to give you this, just this and just baby steps the whole way.’” ”God’s greatest gift, the gift of life. He gave you a gift of a new life and He gave you a gift of life.”