How independent am I? How strong? How resilient? And how much can
I grow into the person that I want to be; the mother, the sister, the daughter, the aunt, the employee, the student, the sponsor, and the sponsee? How can I do all of this on my own?
The truth is I am an independent, strong, resilient, single mother that is grounded in my recovery, but without SUPPORT, I would not be where I am. I am beyond grateful for the Keystone STARS Kinder Care for being an integral part of that support. I have trusted Kinder Care with my daughter Gianna the past couple of years, and that trust has paid off because my daughter had endured a great tragedy before she came into Kinder Care.
Her father passed away when she was just a baby. The difficulty of processing such a loss at such a young age is nearly impossible. The difficulty for me to not be there by my daughter’s side every moment was unspeakable. However, to be the best mother that I can be; I had to work hard at my job, in my recovery, and in doing so I had to put Gianna in child care. This decision was one of the hardest and most terrifying decisions of my life. I never wanted to leave her side. But I am glad that I did. And I am so truly grateful I chose Kinder Care.
This decision not only helped me logistically, enabling me to work and go to meetings, and be a part of the community, functioning as a healthy, contributing member, but the invaluable help, the support, in grounding my daughter. She needed to be around other children, and caring, empathic adults that were truly invested in seeing her grow. Kinder Care was the best choice I could have made. I will be eternally grateful for Keystone STARS Kinder Care.
My story is long, and far too often very sad and very tragic at times. I was raised by a single mother that while flawed; I now understand that she did the best that she could. I have seen addiction up close and personal for most of my life. I just turned 40 years old, and I am five years clean and sober. The road was littered with poor choices, self-pity, excuses, rationalizations, and justifications. But not any more. I do not regret the painful, ugly experiences that I have had to endure throughout my life, because they have helped mold me into the woman that I am. The details are excruciating, so I won’t share them here in this testimonial. What I will share is that today, I am better than I have ever been in my life.
I am a single mother of three children, and I am often responsible for the care of my niece. My family, and many of my friends growing up have been adversely affected by addiction in horrifying ways that are, sadly, far too common with many other families and friends. I, myself have seen the inside of prisons, rehabs, courtrooms, and the streets in a way only a true addict can know. But these past five years I have seen the other side of those horrors. The hope, the light, the beauty of recovery. The spiritual connection of a mother getting her child back. The overwhelming emotional perspective of seeing families be put back together, people putting their lives back together, and getting to know a new freedom that recovery can provide.
I work in the field as well. I work at a facility that supports women and children that are suffering in myriad ways all stemming from addiction. I can see clearly that without supports, these families would be lost. I can see clearly in the twelve step meetings that I attend that without supports there would be no recovery. I can see clearly that I have much to give, to share, to supports others both in my recovery, and in my profession. I am going back to school to follow through with my education, and so I can become a licensed counselor and be able to help even more. I can see clearly that I have had incredible supports to get this far. I have many people to thank, but right now I can only express my gratitude for Keystone STARS Kinder Care. This support has enabled me to work as hard as I can to get healthy, and most importantly; you have helped my daughter Gianna become more grounded and open and kind. The environment you provide her has helped her in ways that are immeasurable.
I cannot thank Keystone STARS and Kinder Care enough for being such an important part of my support group as I continue to grow, and as I continue to share my experiences with others. Keystone STARS and Kinder Care are a part of that experience and I thank you, thank you, thank you.
Jacqueline D., Chester County