Holly Thomas
Silver Chipper #165
I am so proud of that number: 165. Because I wanted to leave Healing Transitions every day for seven months. But I stuck with it and finished the program. Healing Transitions had become my home and a beacon of light in a dark world.
Addiction was crippling. In 2014, the last year of my alcoholism, I wasn’t able to work. I was living off savings, running out of money quickly, living in hell. The vicious cycle of drinking all day left my body ragged, gray and sick. I was shutting down. I didn’t talk to my son, I didn’t believe in God, and I wanted to die.
How do you get to such a hopeless state?
During a blackout, I promised a God I didn’t know or understand that I would do whatever came into my path. And I received help immediately. I remember trying to find an AA hotline number, calling my parents who showed up at my doorstep, and ending up at Healing Transitions. From there, I just took every suggestion to heart because following my own direction clearly wasn’t working.
I didn’t realize how small the world was in the dark. Each of the 12 steps gave me a little more light, and now I can see our big, beautiful world clearly. Today, I wake up every morning, with a gratitude that grips my soul, and ask myself: what can I see, experience, and give back? I live with my eyes wide open. That’s Recovery Life.
I have a healthy marriage and a job I love. And I’ve found freedom in discipline. Quiet time, meditation, consistent meetings, self-care and service work. It feeds my soul.
I’m so proud of #165. It represents the light that got me through the darkness.