Sobriety Clocks
We are the CHIC Community, from instagram, the grocery store or next door. We come together to celebrate the ups and downs, when CHIC hits the fan and when all the fabulous things happen. One special sorority in our CHIC Community is our Sober Warriors. This is where we celebrate you!! If you are a Sober Warrior and want to be featured please email info@nataliereddell.com with whatever you want to share, your story, a photo, your name, or just the date you got sober. If it's minutes, hours, days, weeks or years, you matter. You are worth celebrating!! If you would rather not share, guess what, you are still our Sober Warrior and we've got this together!!!!
Natalie Reddell
"It's a big deal, Mama.” My son, Schuyler, always reminds me how important my sobriety is. He reminds me that getting my A.A. chip is a big deal & that sharing our story of recovery is so important because it can help others with their struggles against addiction.
Aimee Pellitteri
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.”
Stacie Holloway
Jolene Dyce
Liberti Horner
Nicole Vaterlaus
Mary Brasher
Chrissy F
When you hit bottom, the only way left to go is up. I found myself there recently and now it’s time to start the journey back. Already though, I am grateful for a community that will help me heal and grow from the pain of addiction. I have so many reasons to keep climbing up; three amazing kids, two adorable granddaughters and a man that has my heart.
I've loved this quote for years and it seems more relevant in my life than ever before.
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sandy Townsend
I started my rounds of ER's, Detoxes and Rehabs due to my alcoholism at the end of 2007. I was in different types of treatment for as few as 5 days and as many as 110 days. I was diagnosed as a late stage alcoholic. My poor Dad, may he RIP, drove me to these treatments centers believing each time was the LAST time, and every time, I truly wanted to be sober. My mom had gotten sober. She passed, with 20+ years sober, before my alcoholism took me to my depths of despair. Her death from colon cancer, was one of many catalysts I used to justify my drinking. We sadly, never had a chance to really talk about recovery. I was a workaholic first and didn't take time to understand. I was selfish and self centered to the core, I would find out later through aa.
Thankfully I felt comfortable in aa and was always welcomed back after picking up again and again. Finally on Jan 16 2012 I had had enough and got serious and committed to aa and the 12 steps. Thank God I did at 50 years old. In December of 2013 Dad succumbed to prostate cancer. He died knowing I was sober. The last thing I said to him was I was going to a meeting and would be right back... I never did leave as he took a turn for the worse and died while I was by his side. I did go to my meeting later that night because I get comfort there. Fast forward my continued sobriety to Jan 2017....Just days before I was to celebrate 5 years of sobriety, (just 2 months after my dog died) I was diagnosed with stage 3c ovarian cancer at 55 yrs old. Somehow, by God's grace, I made it through all the treatment (18 sessions of chemo and full hysterectomy), losing all my hair, and being downright exhausted; without picking up a drink. (I was also extremely vocal to Drs about the pain meds I would ingest). Drugs were not an issue for me but I was taking zero chances with my sobriety. I worked too hard for it! I used all the tools I had learned from aa and the steps and took them with me to fight cancer!
Today I am gratefully still sober and as of my last tests - cancer free! What I have learned so far is no matter what life hands me I don't pick up a drink in any and all circumstances!
Almost five years ago my life was turned upside down and despite not really wanting to at the time I became clean sober. The Promises is Alcoholics Anonymous are a cornerstone of my life. It begins with, “If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through.” It is a constant reminder that although this journey is often difficult, the results are more than I could ever imagine.
I quit drinking for my son. He was 4 when I quit. I truly believe I gave him and me a better life as a sober Mom. On December 25, 2004 I took my last drink. I can't even believe I will be 15 years sober!! One thing that keeps me going....if I start drinking today, I will never be 15 years sober again. If I start...then quit..I won't live long enough to reach 15 years. My goal is to be sober for as many years as I drank and then keep on going. One day at a time.
Seeing people like you who are fun, vibrant, and loving life on social media...oh, and btw...you’re a SOBER PERSON...shows people like me that giving up alcohol is not the end of the world, it’s only just the beginning. Through your encouragement, 12-step meetings, and other online supports, I’ve made it through a whole year. As your son says “It’s a big deal!”
My recovery is just that! Mine! I No longer compare my insides to anyone’s outsides. My journey didn’t just happen overnight. I fell many times, but finally got up! I was done being sick and tired, of being sick and tired. I no longer have to allow the lie heroin continued to feed me that I needed it to go on! I’m free to be the person I was meant to be! I have left the prison of my hell and freely support, encourage, and offer support to the next suffering addict! I absolutely LOVE my life and those who support me daily. My life is not perfect, but it’s more manageable SOBER and free! I’m kicking addictions ass one day at a time!!
My sober date is 11/27/2003. Alcohol had been my love for many years and helped me with my anxiety I didn’t know I had. My Nana died in February of that year in my arms while I sang her favorite song. I hit it hard. Didn’t know how to process all the pain. Woke up to a liver that was not really wanting to work for me anymore, I had used her up. Made a deal with God if He got me out of the mess I had made I wouldn't drink again. He did his part and I have done mine. My Mama come to live with us and seeing me sober made her so proud and the last 15 years of her life were spent with me caring for her and loving every minute of our time together. She also passed in my arms while singing her favorite song. This time I felt "all the things" and I am better for it. My husband Rocky followed me in getting sober April 12, 2006. 2020 has been a bi*** and in April Rocky was diagnosed with bladder cancer. Had he not stopped drinking his liver wouldn’t have been in good enough shape to receive his 20 rounds of chemo and 36 rounds of radiation. BUT, we did it! Completely sober, together and my Darling is cancer free! All the feelings, though some are so hard, are meant to be felt. Rocky and I felt them together and are grateful for every single day, especially being sober while we did it all. It's always there, that little voice telling you just one, but you get stronger and stronger everyday you tell that damn voice to shut the s*** up!