Our Stories
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Our Stories
Trish O'Hare
In 1998 at age 43 I left my husband of 15 years. The disease of alcoholism placed a death grip on our marriage and never let go. My dream to have a family was shattered but by turning to my faith and family I was able to move on.
On the other side of the country another story of recovery was beginning. Kevin was also 43 years old and struggling with the death grip alcoholism had on him for the last 23 years. He had lost everything including his 3 children. He had left them 11 years earlier and had lost contact. In desperation to end his painful existence Kevin tried to commit suicide. The first time he jumped in front of a truck. When that only produced a broken leg Kevin cursed God, “I finally get up the nerve to kill myself and all you do is break my leg!?!?” God must have chuckled. He didn’t want to kill him (he needed him later) but he did send another truck. Run over by 2 trucks Kevin survived only to drink again once he could walk. His second suicide attempt came a few years later. He took enough pills to kill 2 people and yet he survived. In the hospital he was asked if he wanted help and in that moment God whispered in his ear ‘say yes’ and he listened. That was July 12, 2000. Over the next year and a half Kevin lived in a recovery home witnessing and living recovery. He discovered faith for the first time in his life and found a new life.
Kevin and I met in 2004. We had both weathered the storm of addiction and were now on the other side with faith in God’s Will firmly in tow. Without hesitation Kevin moved to my home town and together began witnessing Gods plan in action. Miraculously, Kevin found his children and reconnected with them the moment we came together. Now I could clearly see God’s plan. I did not have children from my first marriage because they were yet to come. Shannon, Meaghan, and Kaitie joined Kevin and I on our wedding day in May 2006 and are an intricate part of our lives now. As our youngest daughter so eloquently wrote in her first Christmas card to us ‘for the first time I feel whole’.
Our lives have come full circle. Kevin runs 3 recovery homes for men and women modeled after the recovery home that saved his life. I host a weekly support group for families struggling with addiction and this summer our daughter Meaghan volunteered her time to work with children coming from homes where addiction has affected their lives. We are the faces of recovery.
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