My name is Vita.
I must first thank my higher power who I choose to call God for giving me this opportunity to share my testimony with all of you.

I was born from a loving, caring mother and father who nurtured, loved, and cared for me. There was not many sad and disappointing days. Growing up was very exciting and the sky was pretty and blue in my eyes.

The gray sky along with a lot of pain and fear began when I dropped out of school in the 11th grade. I began abusing myself with many different substances and allowed men to abuse me also. Wrapped in the horrors of addiction I was stabbed 17 times, rushed by ambulance to the hospital, hand completely cut in half. After eight hours of surgery I woke up in the county jail infirmary hand cuffed to the bed rail unable to speak or walk. That became my home for a few months.

After being released I still continued to use and my life continued on a downward spiral. I was shot twice, hit by a car, and pushed out of a second story window. Only by the grace of God I am able to stand, talk, and write about the destructive path I was on. That life continued for another twenty years.

On September 30, 2010 I found the courage to surrender and let go of the using life style and let God's work be done. I found a program, Narcotics Anonymous, which showed me that recovery from substance abuse is possible and I could find a new way to live.

I chose a new way of living and thinking along with meaningful alternatives and have accepted the responsibilities of the choices that I have chosen.

I had a desire to be abstinent from substances and return to school. That took a lot of discipline, hard work, and determination. Until I become holistic again and have recovered my mind, body, and spirit I will not be free.

That's the dark end that has brought me to my bright new beginning on my journey back to the true nature of my being. The famous quote of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: "Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty we are free at last".