Donna, age 41

I knew I was too drunk to drive home and face my family. I steered my car into the old graveyard and parked. I found a full bottle of wine among all the “empties” on the front seat, grabbed it, slammed the car door and slid to the ground. I was slumped by the car, slugging wine and staring at the graves of my grandparents, remembering the good times and wondering what happened to my life.

Not many people know the exact moment they hit bottom, but I do. It was that night – March 24, 2006 – at the graveyard just down the road from my parent’s house in Gulfport, Mississippi. My husband and daughter and I were up from Jacksonville, visiting family, and I had been shopping and drinking all day. When I finally dragged myself up to drive home from the graveyard, I discovered that the car door was locked. My husband came and took in the whole scene. He’s a quiet man. He just said, “Look at you.” I knew at that moment in the graveyard that I was hearing the death knell of everything I hold dear.

After a completely silent 8-hour ride home to Jacksonville the next day, I closed myself in the bedroom, picked up the yellow pages and called Wekiva Springs Center for Women. It was Sunday night. The lady at Wekiva suggested I come in the morning for an evaluation, but I told her “If I don’t come tonight, I won’t come tomorrow.” She said, “Come now. We’ll be waiting for you.” They unlocked the door late that night and I walked down a dimly lighted hallway and into a new life.

I never knew anyone in rehab and never thought I’d end up there. My thing was pain pills and wine. You see, I’m a horse woman and I have one leg that is shorter than the other due to a riding accident when I was a teenager, so I’ve been taking pain pills forever. The wine … well, it started out as just a social thing. I owned an upscale boutique and wine was part of the ambience, you know. I ran around with some of the most prominent women in Jacksonville, but it was superficial. When you meet the girls out for lunch, you certainly don’t chat about rehab.

Rehab was nothing like I expected. I was so incredibly fortunate that I chose Wekiva. It’s not just about the drugs and cleaning out your body – it’s about strengthening you as a woman. You think of derelicts and uneducated people, but I was there with MIT graduates and incredible women from all over the United States. Now, I shout about rehab and my recovery to the world. I don’t care who knows because I’ve got my life and my family back.

Family Week at Wekiva was the most powerful thing. To see my big, strong husband crying like a baby and feel the hot tears of my beautiful teenaged daughter on my cheek…you realize for the first time how much pain you’ve inflicted on the people you love. It was raw in that room. Today, if I think about a glass of wine, it makes me sick to my stomach.

I owe my life to Wekiva. It’s a great place to heal and it will be part of my life forever. I’m now a better mother, a better wife and a more spiritual woman. Church is still not a thing for me, but I have a lot of conversations with God. Recently, a dear friend presented me with a beautiful paint horse. I call her “Ki,” which is short for Wekiva. There was never a moment’s doubt about that name. She represents all new beginnings to me.

Erica, 40

I grew up knowing one thing for certain. I’d never get fat. No one is overweight in my family and I remember my dad’s comments when he spotted a fat person. “Gosh,” he’d say. “Look at that!” I’m 5’ tall and have spent my life fighting my weight, secretly alternating between binge-eating and fasting. When I was on a binge, I would hide stashes of candy bars, cookies and snack cakes all over the house. When I was fasting, I’d hide that too, but my 11-year old son was starting to suspect something He’d say, “Mom, aren’t you going to eat?” and I’d say, “Oh, I ate earlier,” or “I ate while I was cooking.” I’d go for days on end with no food at all. By the time I saw a television commercial about Wekiva, I was truly at the end of my rope. I was in a state of deep depression. My body chemistry was all out of whack and I was weak and sick from years of abusing myself.

I spent 28 days in Wekiva and it was the best thing I could have done for myself. The staff was fantastic. I connected with my main therapist right away. She really knew how to listen. I realized then that I’d never opened up to anyone or even to myself. My family really didn’t want to hear me. My husband was always supportive, but I had this secret life he didn’t know about. My parents were very much against taking anti-depressants. They would often say, “People should just lean more on God and pray more.” God is a very big part of my life, but there comes a time when those medications can really pull you out of a dark hole, and that’s where I was.

The best part of Wekiva – especially for an eating disorder person – was the three nutritious meals a day. We had menus we wrote down to get prepared to go out in the real world – and they equipped us with a really great set of tools to handle our eating realistically. Yoga was another thing. I’ve never made time for exercising. Yoga helped me meditate and come back to myself. I still love it. And the art therapy was awesome! I’m not an artist at all, in fact, I’d call myself “art-challenged,” but you wouldn’t believe the difference in the art I created when I first got there and what I was doing by the fourth week – it was like night and day.

Family week was really important for me. We were in a safe environment with a mediator and I was able to share the real truth with my parents, husband and kids for the first time. The mediator helped explain how we could help each other as a family unit. We talked about things we could all do to make things better.

I still have good days and bad days, but my biggest thing is I immediately talk to someone. Wekiva taught me to reach out and I don’t hesitate to do that now. When I let food distract me, I think of the acronym I learned there – Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired – HALT!

Aisha, 32

I had everybody fooled. In August of 2005, when I attempted to commit suicide after the birth of my fourth child, everyone – even the medical professionals – thought it was post-partum depression. “I wasn’t honest about my drinking or my use of anti-depressants."

I had my first two children by the time I was 21 and I think my alcoholism started when I was about 22, but I didn’t really think I had a problem. Most of my drinking was at night, after I took care of the house and kids all day. My husband and I were social drinkers and until my suicide attempt, I never tried to hide my drinking. Even an attempted suicide didn’t stop me.

My family life got really bad after the suicide attempt. I was paranoid, hot-headed, and blacking out when I drank. My husband and kids didn’t know what to expect next. When I went to a family funeral in Illinois, I left him with the kids. Because I was without the responsibility of children, I stayed drunk the whole week I was there. My family didn’t know whether I was coming home or not, and my 12-year old son decided he couldn’t take it any more. He called my parents and asked them to come pick him up. By the time I got home from Illinois, I had lost my son and my husband wanted a divorce. I realized I was losing everything because of my alcoholism. That’s when I called Wekiva.

Today, my life is golden. I’ve always been told I was beautiful, but I never felt like I was – it seemed I really didn’t fit in. I’m learning to be beautiful on the inside now, and I’m so grateful for the relationship-building tools that Wekiva has given me. I’ve learned to set healthy boundaries with people and not to allow what they say or do to affect me. My husband still drinks occasionally, but he doesn’t incorporate it in his every day life. He’s not an alcoholic. I am. And, I’m a grateful alcoholic because, through Wekiva, I’ve become a member of a very large support group called AA.

God knows where I would have ended up if I hadn’t called Wekiva. I probably would have been on the streets with all my children, or dead. Wekiva helped me learn to love myself. They loved me until I could love me.

Christine

I’m a former heroine addict. What I didn’t realize is that when I began drinking alcohol after I got off of heroine, I was just switching addictions. It doesn’t work.

I’m not what you’d picture as a typical heroine addict or alcoholic, whatever that is. I’ve got dual degrees in special education, a 17 year old daughter, a 4 year old son and a prosperous, loving husband. I live in a very upscale neighborhood. In fact, I had everything a woman could want, but all I could think about was my next drink. When you’re drowning in alcohol, material things don’t matter a bit.

I was at Wekiva for 31 days and they treated the whole me – not just my addiction. The place was beautiful, the staff was wonderful and I had an individualized plan that gave me specific personal goals to meet every day. I had neglected a lot of things while I was looking for that next drink – but at Wekiva, whatever it is you’ve neglected, they’ll take care of it.