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Recovery in the News
A new life: Mom reveals paths of addiction, recovery
Joanne Bratton
Baxter Bulletin
January 25, 2007
She's no longer the woman with the faded blonde hair and gaunt cheekbones. No longer does she live for the next high or the next drink.
Georgia Curtis Wheeler has a new life.
A recovering addict, Wheeler, 39, of Henderson, has been sober for two years. With her steady job, she affords her own place and provides clothes and food for her children, who are back in her care. It's something she's never had before.
"I didn't think I could live without drugs for one day," said Wheeler, remembering her past life.
Wheeler started taking drugs when she was 12. Growing up in Little Rock, she had a rough life and lived in foster homes. As she got older, her focus was looking for the next party.
While living in Little Rock, she started using crack cocaine. In less than five months of using the drug, her weight dropped to 85 pounds. At one point, she was staying in a motel and selling crack to earn a living.
She had two children and would stay sober while she was pregnant, but once they were born she was back using drugs and drinking, she said.
It didn't take long for calls to be made to the Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services. She had moved to Yellville to be near a sister and started using methamphetamine, and soon her daughter was placed in foster care.
"I was trying my best to survive selling and using drugs," Wheeler said. "That's all I knew. As bad as it breaks your heart as a parent, it's still not enough.
"Children and Family Services were begging me to do those things to keep it together, and I couldn't."
She later was arrested in Ava, Mo., on a methamphetamine charge. Her then-husband and son's grandmother begged officials to put her in a rehabilitation center. She spent about a month at Recovery Centers of Arkansas in North Little Rock.
Her life began to change.
A court order allowed Wheeler to attend Arkansas Center for Addictions Research, Education & Services for about six months. The residential treatment program is affiliated with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and allowed Wheeler to recover from her addictions while with her children.
Wheeler knew she had to change when she realized if she did not complete the program, her daughter would be permanently taken away.
She graduated from the program in August 2005.
"It was a hard six months," Wheeler remembered. "I had to fight the internal monsters I was dealing with."
She still was facing 10-40 years of prison for a manufacturing methamphetamine charge. She pleaded guilty to a lesser offense and chose to participate in the 14th Judicial District Drug Court. The program required her to stay clean, attend drug court, participate in Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous meetings each week and have sessions with a probation officer and counselor. She now is in the last phase of the program.
"There is loyalty in the drug world," Wheeler said. "I look in the faces of friends and I know they haven't gotten it. Inside you have to be so willing to live.
"You have to be hating getting drunk and high, hating living out of a cardboard box, hating that your children are being taken — you have to hate it so much you are willing to change it."
The changes show in her sparkling eyes and healthy smile when she hugs her two small children. The family now goes fishing and watches movies together. Her 4-year-old daughter has her room decked in pink princess decor. They have a puppy and a cat.
"It's been a complete 180-degree turnaround for that girl," said Wheeler's father, John Fargo of Braselton, Ga. "A lot of it was her fault, and lot was her mother and I not being the best of parents, but she's overcome that. We're more than just proud. We're thrilled completely with her success."
Wheeler attributes her success to God, family members and sober friends who have surrounded her. Her employers at Town & Country allow her to take off work to participate in the drug court program.
She is overwhelmed when she looks back at the changes. The gaunt woman she used to be two years ago is now only a photograph.
"It's nice to know I have back everything that was taken away," Wheeler said. "I can stay on the streets, earn a living with my children and watch them grow. I want people to know you can do that, you can have that world you dream about in your head."
Copyright ©2007 The Baxter Bulletin.