Some may consider their arrival at a treatment center to be their lowest point – and it was for me, too – it was also the first step on a path to freedom.

I’ve always had embarrassingly large feelings. I wasn’t just happy; I was extraordinarily joyful. I wasn’t just sad; I was profoundly despondent. During my tumultuous adolescence, I started using drugs to suppress these hyperbolic emotions, to mirror my feelings with those of my peers. Drawing attention to my highs and lows was mortifying and using drugs made me feel “like everyone else”.

I was able to make it through my secondary and post-secondary education with moderate success but I was numbed out the whole time. Besides contributing to my lack of motivation, my drug use also placed an impenetrable shield between me and real-life consequences. When I truly experienced life on life’s terms, I fell more deeply into my drug use; this time, my usual method of avoidance didn’t work. The jig was up and I needed to trust those who’d walked this path before me. I was an addict and I needed to get clean.

Through a series of fortunate events, I found myself at Westminster House. By the Grace of God, my eyes, ears and heart opened and I heard the message: any addict can stop using, lose the desire to use and find a new way to live.

Westminster House is my home away from home. I volunteer with the women as often as possible and share my skills whenever I am able.

Westminster House gave me back my life and I’ll be forever grateful.