"Wow, what an amazing journey in recovery it has been so far. I’m going to take things back a bit from where it all started and began for me. Born and raised in Rochester, NY, on March 9th, 1992, at Strong Hospital, my parents became mother and father to their first child and only daughter that day. My mother, a full-blooded Irish Catholic woman, and my dad, a mixture of European places such as German, Welsh, Scottish, and Hungarian.

Moving on, my parents had my brother Michael. This would bring on many mixed emotions coming on for me at my age of 2 years old. Fear, happiness, jealousy, anticipation, with some new responsibilities. My brother and I grew up together and lived in so much laughter, love, and many milestones.

Going to fast forward 10 years, when baby brother was born. I was so excited to find out my mother was having her third child and my second brother. I wanted to take care of him. This was my opportunity at 10 years old to keep playing house but with a real baby, no more time for playing with my Barbies or baby dolls.

Now fast forward to high school in my junior year, where I cheerleaded and was pretty popular. The opportunities for having a boyfriend, partying with alcohol, and smoking marijuana, which became some of my gateway drugs, that’s what threw me into addiction...I'm now in recovery."