9 People who LOVE life in recovery

Katie McKenna • Oct 04, 2021

9 People who LOVE life in recovery

Chris Stewart

Carlsbad, California
Clean and Sober since January 1st, 2014

Motivational Public Speaker, Substance Abuse Counselor, Visionary Coach, New Orlean Saints Santa Claus, and Author of “Prayers, 

Punk Rock, and Pastry”.

What Chris loves the most about being in recovery: 


“I love that I get to be the same person to everyone I know and meet. I used to have to put on a mask all day everyday trying to cheat/manipulate and lie to people and it was exhausting!I also love going to recovery meetings all over the world and meeting other miracles and I also love that my job is literally to transform the way people view addicts and the way addicts view recovery. ( This is also my personal daily mantra and mission statement.)”


Chris’s Facebook. www.facebook.com/ROCKanAMAZINGlife 

Chris’s instagram: @1hopedealer

Megan Johnson

Vancouver, BC Canada

Sober since September 28, 2015

RPhT (Registered Pharmacy Technician) ~ I compound heroin into injectable syringes for safe supply in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside #dtes

What Megan loves most about being in recovery:

“The greatest joy of recovery is truly being free in a life I love living and the ability to help those still struggling in the darkness with the light I was shown.”

 

Megan’s Instagram: @megstarbaby 

Megan’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/megstarbaby/

Andrew Clark 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Clean and sober since September 3, 2015

Local 183 Sprinkler fitter UA PIPETRADE

What Andy loves most about being in recovery: 


“The freedom of choice. A working relationship with my higher power and knowledge of spiritual solutions. Just to be normal is an unnatural state for addicts. So having the ability to be of service and help others, to be human with values and character, a productive member of society.. I had to learn all that AFTER getting clean/sober! Truly a gift.”


Andy’s Instagram: @class_meets_trash

Shannon Gossett Rudisill, age 52

Gastonia, NC

Sober since September 8, 2013



What Shannon loves most about sobriety:


“I love sobriety because it has given me the gift of self love and self esteem. I have found my true self and I am living happy, joyous, and free.

My mother passed away this year and because of sobriety I have been able to live with the grief instead of covering it up with drugs and alcohol.”


Shannon’s Instagram: @sassysobershan

John Dillon

Chester County PA

Sober since November 5th, 1990

Nuclear Plant Operator

What John loves the most about being in recovery: 

“Even after 30 years, my addictions still talk to me and remind me where I came from.”

Lori Massicot

Southern California native

Sober since August 11, 2013

Certified Life + Recovery Coach, Podcaster

What Lori loves the most about being in recovery: 


“I never thought I would say that I LOVE to be sober, but it's the BEST!

After three decades of drinking to cope with life, anxiety, stress, and just my existence, I have a much better life without alcohol. 

Getting sober didn't fix my life; it made me realize that my life didn't need to be fixed, and I didn't need to escape.

There is so much clarity that comes later in life, and when you take alcohol out of the mix, it's 10x'd. 

I love that sobriety allows me to create a new mindset that helps me cope with my anxiety and stress and fulfill my needs without drinking. 

Sobriety looks and feels like freedom, and I’m forever grateful to myself for choosing an alcohol-free lifestyle.”

 

Lori’s Instagram: @lorimassicot

Lori’s Podcast: To 50 and Beyond Podcast

Lori’s Website : lorimassicot.com

Jon Baysden

Columbia, South Carolina

Sober since January 13th, 2017

What Jon loves the most about being in recovery: 


“Sober living is vibrant, fulfilling, and a way to enjoy real experiences and relationships. I look at people in the eye now that I love and I’m not ashamed to do so. I feel more free and my life is no doubt more manageable (internally and externally).”


Jon’s Instagram: @hella_80s



Rebecca Avis-Steinberg 

Bondsville, Massachusetts

sober since December 16th, 2020

What Becky loves the most about being in recovery: 


“What I love the most about being sober is knowing my kids are proud of me. And my ability to focus on things other than drinking, I’m not hungover or drunk. Which was the viscous cycle I was caught in. All of my listless effort was spent doing the bare minimum for myself, and giving the rest to my kids. Now I have enough to give my family and myself. I’m happier and healthier than I can ever remember in the last 10 years.”

Nick Fuchs

New Orleans, LA

Sober since April 17, 2015

Insurance Adjuster

What Nick loves the most about being in recovery: 


“I couldn’t be more grateful to be living this beautiful life in recovery. It’s not easy at times but it’s definitely worth it. To watch God blow your mind with things you never thought were possible. The one thing I am the most grateful for is the restoration of my relationships with my children and family🙏 We do recover🙌.”


Nick’s Instagram: @lavitadinick

Worth the Wait: Megan's Path to Lasting Addiction Recovery and Purpose

By Megan Miller, CAC • 29 Oct, 2024
I grew up full of fear. Everything terrified me. I never felt comfortable in my own skin. It wasn’t until I started smoking pot at 14—because I was too afraid to stand up to peer pressure—that I finally felt a sense of freedom and relaxation for the first time. I chased that high for the next 16 years. Somehow, I managed to graduate college with an OxyContin addiction, and after that, with nothing tethering me to the real world, things got a lot worse. I went to detox for the first of many times in 2005. I left there thinking I wasn’t an addict and that my use had just gotten out of control. That denial kept me in and out of treatment for the next decade. Heroin became my entire life. I couldn’t hold a job, I overdosed, I got Hepatitis C from sharing needles, and I didn’t care about anything except getting high. I was so full of shame at what my life had become, but I just couldn’t stop. I was great at trying to stop, but I couldn’t stay stopped. The gift of desperation came to me in April 2012. I couldn’t keep living the way I was. I finally wanted to live instead of die. That compulsion to use left me when I finally surrendered to it. Today, I wake up grateful for the life I have. My 6-year-old daughter is the greatest joy of my life, and she has never seen me use. Today, with the support of my wonderful husband, my family, and my recovery network, I live a full life of joy and purpose. There is no more rewarding feeling in the world than sharing the gift of recovery with others.

Overdose Awareness Day: A Reflection on Hope and Recovery

By Dave Aumiller, CPS, NCPRSS • 03 Sep, 2024
Overdose. It’s a word that catches in my throat and a topic that stops me in my tracks. As a person in long-term recovery from Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and Substance Use Disorder (SUD), I have overdosed many times. I have been revived by paramedics three times. Waking up in a hospital bed with no idea how I got there—scared. Or in the back of an ambulance, sick and angry for being Narcaned, a crazed hostage of my addicted mind. Or in a front yard, soaking wet from someone throwing me in a cold shower, unsuccessfully trying to revive me before leaving me outside—confused. These experiences don’t account for the countless times I have overdosed and been revived by a concerned party—now scarred by the trauma of my disease in its final stage, trying to carry out its final act, resulting in an untimely death. Overdose. After all of this, it was the kindness and care of others that made the difference between another chance and another day. Another dose of hope and life. An opportunity to begin again. On a day like today, reflecting on a topic that is so close to the heart of everyone connected to this reality, I am grateful. I am hopeful. I am humble. Because I know how lucky I am. How undeserving I was. And I live my amends and gratitude by doing my best to embody and live the values of a recovery that works. I also keep close to my heart, at the forefront of my mind, and on the tip of my tongue, the names of the countless others who weren’t as lucky as I. In honor of Overdose Awareness Day, I will say the names of my friends who weren’t fortunate enough to receive as many chances as I did, and I will live in their names—sober today and willing to extend a hand to anyone who needs it in their journey to recover and spread hope to both the sufferer and the caregiver.  Today, let us remember those we have lost, cherish the moments we have been given, and continue to fight for a future where overdose is a distant memory. Together, we can make a difference. Together, we can spread hope.

Overdose Awareness Day: Survivor's Guilt Transformed into Hope

By Shannon Schwoeble, CPS • 29 Aug, 2024
I was devastated when I heard that another close friend I'd made in treatment was gone. Seven friends in my first six months—two had come into treatment, left, and passed away while I was still there. In the years that followed, many others who had walked this path alongside me were lost as well. Nine in my first year of recovery. I found myself asking, "Why am I still here? Why didn’t they ‘get it’?"  Survivor’s guilt was not something I expected to experience in recovery. It hit me hard and fast when I began my journey in 2011. I was terrified. I would sit and think about friends I had just seen or spoken to—did they seem different? Did they sound off? I was so scared of who I would lose next. Through my work with a therapist and finding my own voice, I learned to transform my survivor's guilt into hope. I realized that by using my voice, sharing my story, saying their names, and talking about the profound impact each of them had on me—in life and in death—I could help others understand that recovery is possible. Perhaps, something I share will give someone struggling a glimmer of hope that they, too, can find recovery. On Overdose Awareness Day, August 31, we remember and honor those we've lost to this devastating disease. In loving memory of Ben, Pat, Krista, Harry, Christina, Brook, Dustin, Jeff, Jamie, and everyone we have lost—you are remembered and loved, today and every day.
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