Liz's Story Continued
This is the second part of my story.
Since 2004 my life has changed beyond my wildest dreams, at that time I was not in contact with any of my family, they had no idea if I was dead or alive, in my mind I thought that they didn't care if I was dead or alive.
No one could imagine my surprise when I received a letter from missing person's to say that my family did not care about my drug use, they just wanted to know that I was alive.
With support from everyone around me I sat in the lounge at the Haven overwhelmed with emotion at the prospect of speaking to my Mum after four years and would you believe that after all this time her phone was engaged! But I persisted until I reached her, I heard her shocked voice and my dad shouting in the background "is she in the nick".
It was nice to tell them for once that not only was I not in nick but I was ok and had been clean from crack and heroin for six weeks. As much as my parents wanted to believe me, they had heard it so many times before but were just glad that I was alive.
Since then I have visited them on numerous occasions and they have visited me in my new flat, where I have lived drug free for over a year.
I now feel that my parents trust me and I also realise how my drug usage affected them and all the people that loved me.
I try every day to work on myself as I wouldn't want to go back as I believe I would have ended up dead. I have a close loving relationship with my family that I thought could never be.
I have completed a college course on graphic design and will be starting a counselling course in January. I have also built on my self-esteem and have many friends that love and care about me today. I still attend support groups, in which I have become involved in helping others.
I am now a volunteer at the Haven, ready to help the next me that comes through the door.
Liz - Ex-Resident and Volunteer