Norma* was born in Norway, the daughter of members of the Diplomatic Corps. She spent her childhood living in various countries. She started using pot at 15 years of age. That was in the 1960s: the hippy era and the “in” thing to do. By 17 or 18, she had progressed to hard drugs.
In the following years she married and had a son. Her husband was an alcoholic and eventually they divorced. Because of her drug problem, she lost the custody of her son. With the death of her parents and her brother’s rejection of her, she had no family support in her attempts to become drug free. After five or six attempts at recovery, she ended up, for a time, homeless and on the streets. Eventually she came to realize that, at 46 years of age, she could not physically and mentally continue in her present lifestyle.
While in prison she took several college courses in sociology, algebra and business. The last six months of her sentence were spent at the Montgomery County Pre-Release Center. While there, she learned about Life Skills Workshop, Inc. and was encouraged to participate in their series of workshops. When asked what the Life Skills program gave her, she said,
Their confidence in my ability to succeed and the fun and enjoyment of working together helped me to understand that I was not alone in my struggle. I needed to find my own way, but I had help I could turn to – who cared! This communication with the staff, mentors, as well as the other participants, was encouraged to continue after the workshop sessions were completed and was important to my future well-being. Being asked to be responsible for the buying and serving of the food at future workshops was practical acknowledgement that I was wanted and needed.
Norma was asked, “What is your life like today? Do you appreciate some things more now than you did before?” Norma answered, “I look forward to each day. I’m grateful that I have the will and self-esteem to deal with life on its own terms. I know I’m not alone in this struggle. The more effort I put into helping myself, the more success I will have.
I am now living with three other women, all recovering their lives. We support each other. I value the friendships I have with other people. I delight in the relationships I have with the woman I work for and my co-workers. I’m looking forward to future education when my life has stabilized.
* To respect her confidentiality, the woman’s name has been changed for this writing.