EP 28: A Mother and Daughter Story of Turning Points: Naetha & Calliese.

In life, we often have moments that we say define us. Moments that stick out, clear as day — moments that shift the trajectory of our lives. We often refer to those as our turning points. That time in our lives where a shift happened as our life takes on the newly established trajectory. In this episode, we are so fortunate to hear a real-life story of what the journey through recovery looks like from two different perspectives. Today we are excited to host two international guests joining us on our podcast. We welcome Naetha and Calliese, who are currently in the UK and joining us via the world wide web. Together we talk about the journeys both Naetha and Calliese have been on — one part of this story is being the person amid a personal battle and the other part of the story is being a mom witnessing the struggle. Naetha and Calliese share their own unique experiences as they traveled through their recovery journeys, they share resources they used during the process, hurdles, treatments, and powerful moments they recall from this time. Stay tuned as we dive into this inspiring turning point story of a mother and daughter as they share about their experience.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Naetha and Calliese tell us about their backgrounds.
• Calliese shares about her personal battle with substance abuse, mental health, toxic relationships, and more.
• Naetha shares with us the struggle of watching and witnessing this journey as the mother.
• Calliese talks about the event that set her recovery path in motion: The Turning Point.
• How Naetha and her husband made critical decisions to try and restore their family.
• How a mother watched her daughter make decisions that could lead to her death.
• Naetha and Calliese share the key resources they used during this journey.
• The importance of timing and the role it plays in the process — Who to call and when.
• The hurdles Calliese went through: Tacos and treatment.
• The transition period Calliese experienced during her treatment: “I don’t have a problem.”
• The powerful message of how God orchestrated the recovery plan behind the scenes.
• They share powerful moments they recall that stand out in their journey.
• Calliese shares where she finds herself now — at this point in her recovery journey.
• Naetha also talks about how things are different today versus a year ago.
• How you cannot put a time stamp on recovery because it is always on-going.
• Calliese and Naetha share takeaways they want the listeners to walk away with: Hope and connection.

Tweetables:

“I, too, remember sitting in the car, ready to drop Calliese off, and in my head I’m going, ‘Be strong, be brave, this is the right thing to do, just do it. Hold your ground, and do this because this could be the changing point.’” — Naetha [0:11:55]

“I knew the decisions I was going to make — that I wasn’t strong enough to live with the consequences prior — but when I got that support and resources, that scaffolding around me, I was able to make a very difficult decision and know that I could live with the consequences because I had people who were loving on me and around me and supporting me through that pain.” — Naetha [0:16:40]

“I used to say ‘Well, I’m not an addict, I’m just depressed, I don’t have a problem, I am not like you all.’ I was still in denial, after years of this going on.” — Calliese [0:21:38]

“Just because we go to treatment, doesn’t mean everything is fixed. Just because we spend 90 days in a rehab, doesn’t mean — I still had a lot of work to do — rehab is just the start of recovery.” — Calliese [0:23:08]

“Sometimes you just have to have a bit of faith. And as long as you have a dose of hope, a tiny little bit of hope — where there is hope, there is breath. Where there is breath there is a chance to change something.” — Naetha [0:28:30]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Al-Anon

Mosaics of Mercy

Sherry Burkhard