Ashton

My name is Ashton, and I’m definitely an unconventional listener. You see, I’m not an addict myself, but I’m the daughter, friend, cousin, sister, step daughter, and widow of many addicts. I’m from middle Tennessee where drugs have completely ravaged many people around me. In fact, I turned 30 this year & I have never seen either of my parents sober. My dad is a retired emergency room physician who got in trouble for writing prescriptions in multiple family members names to support his habit. He’s also an alcoholic. My mom hasn’t had a job since I was very young & supports her habit by doing anything necessary to get her next fix. My little sister has completely spiraled. The last I heard, she was shooting meth and had just gotten arrested for theft. She’s also lost custody of her three children. My step mom died by suicide (Xanax overdose) in 2017, and my then husband died four days later by using a “suicide hood”. He was struggling with a heroin addiction at the time of his death. I have many friends from my childhood & cousins who have also struggled with addiction throughout my life. Thankfully, I learned at a young age that I needed to stay far away from substances. Ironically, I’m a pharmacist, but I work in long-term care because dispensing certain medications in the retail pharmacy was becoming extremely hard & I felt myself needing a break from that. I’ve listened to your podcast on and off for about 5 years now. It’s been oddly healing for me to hear success stories of recovery especially when people choose their children over their addiction. Thank you for what you do for so many people! You don’t know how much it means to me as a child of addicts to hear you talk about your fear of losing your family and the lengths you’ll go to keep that! Anyway, have a great weekend & toodles for Chris!!!