The truth is, when my brother Ryan left to go to New Life House I did not have solid faith in his recovery and assumed that we were beginning a new cycle of seeing him make changes and be happy just to eventually go back down the same path as he was on before and become numb to his surroundings again. Prior to New Life House, he had attempted to turn his life around a few times but I do not believe he ever had his mind set on truly being sober. I think the biggest struggle is committing to changing destructive behaviors and in trying to do that there were always too many distractions and temptations that allured his addictive tendencies to creep back up into his life.
I have seen the worst of days in my brothers’ addiction. I have received calls of which I did not know whether my brother was alive, missing, in jail or in the hospital. I have used life saving measures to bring him back to consciousness only to have him do the same thing hours later and I have struggled to understand how one can be surrounded with love and care yet push it all away to feed their addiction. Sadly, this became our normal and I did not think we would have a day when all of this would turn around. I waited and had tried to accept where my mind was settled in that there was no further outcome other than receiving a call one day or finding on my own that my brother has been taken too soon from me. To know that there is hope behind my situation and to know that I can feel in my heart that my brother is alive again is a feeling I cannot describe in words.
New Life house has provided my brother with the opportunity to get sober without distractions and to do exactly as the name states – create a new life, which he so desperately needed.
My brother now successfully has a new stable job, has a solid group of friends and has more people that he can trust than ever before. I have always considered my brother my best friend and have always loved him whole-heartedly but I can now feel comfortable when I sleep at night or receive a call from him knowing that he is not only safe but also happy. I do not think my brother understood the feeling of happiness for years before his newfound sobriety and it brings peace to my everyday thoughts to know that we can actually experience life together again and make memories that we will both remember.
I feel blessed that he entered this program and I feel lucky that he has had the support, encouragement and stability to get a positive life in order and I truly feel that he is in it for the long run.
-Sierra D, New Life House sister
Last Updated on February 22, 2024
