My name is Brett and I am the co-founder of Oak Island Botanicals. In this blog post, I’d like to share a more in depth overview of my personal journey from my mom dying of alcoholism, battling myself with alcoholism and how Kratom has saved my life.
The purpose of this post is not for sympathy or to drum up business. We’re a new Kratom brand and just want to shed some light on who we are and what we’re about. I hope my story inspires those battling with alcohol and drug abuse.
Speaking from experience, you have the strength within you to be saved! You are an amazing person inside and out and your addiction does not define you. So without further ado, here is my testimony.
My Testimony
My story begins when I was five years old. My mom broke her foot while working at Builder Square and was subsequently prescribed pain pills. To no surprise, she became addicted and one night, paired with alcohol, her addiction culminated in to a complete meltdown in our backyard where the cops had to restrain her.
Thereafter my dad had her admitted to a local rehab for two months. I remember not knowing where my mom went but missing her a ton (I was a mamas boy). Upon visiting her for the first time, I remember seeing her disheveled with a bunch of other unknown people chain smoking cigarettes and downing coffee.
After two months, the rehab held a field day type event to celebrate their sobriety and allow families to come and join in on the celebration. I still remember making snow cones and animal shaped balloons. For the next six years my mom stayed sober and regularly participated in AA meetings. Unfortunately her and my dad’s relationship began to become strained to the point that they were going to divorce but decided not to for us kids (I cried my eyes out).
When I was 12, my uncle died of cancer. He was the patriarch of our extended family who held us all together, so this had a devastating effect on us all. This triggered my mom to relapse and from that moment on it was a downward spiral to her death. Over the next 10 years she fell into severe alcoholism and distanced herself from our family.
She spent those years sleeping on the living room couch. For all practical matters, my parent’s marriage was over even though they technically stayed together for us kids. You can imagine the affect this had on me as a teenager. I originally promised myself that I’d never drink alcohol, but by the age of 15 had my first drink and by 16 blacked out for the first time.
By the time I rolled into college I was a seasoned vet with drinking, and my binge drinking only became worse. I was known as “Blackout Brett” because I would blackout nearly every time I drank. Embarrassing to think about those times (those that I could remember at least). During my sophomore year of college, my mom passed away from liver failure after years of alcohol abuse.
For years leading up to her death, I tried to prepare mentally knowing that day would eventually come. I even had nightmares of speaking at her funeral. When her death finally came, I expected relief but instead it was like a large piece of my heart was ripped out and shred to pieces. It’s a pain I hope no one else has to experience at that age.
I managed to graduate college two years later with a degree in marketing and alcoholism. Over the course of the next ten years I progressed through my career in the soul sucking corporate world with a work hard, play hard attitude, continuing to battle alcoholism. Thankfully, aside from a few brief addictions to Xanax and Adderall, I was able to avoid any pill addictions.
My brother and cousin on the other hand, did not. They became hooked on Xanax, which led to Percocet, then OxyContin and eventually heroin. Both my brother and cousin have been in multiple comas from heroin overdoses, and have had to be narcanned at least 15+ times each (that we know of). My brother’s first time in a coma lasted 5 days, where we did not expect him to survive and began planning out his funeral before he woke up on Christmas Day 2015. Truly a miracle (but he sadly did not learn).
However, after a 13 year addiction, my cousin suddenly stopped. It was a miracle. Come to find out, he was introduced to Kratom back in 2017 and used it to get off heroin outright. I had no idea what Kratom was but heard it also helped alcoholics curve their addiction as well. So I figured, if it helped him maybe it will help me. I was tired of having a lack of control and a dependence on something that ultimately killed my mom.
Indeed, kratom was my cure and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. Kratom saved my life from what seemed like a never ending battle with alcoholism. While I believe we dance with the devil every day with his temptations dangling in front of us, kratom paired with Faith has truly saved me. If you read this far, thank you. I hope you enjoyed my story.
A story of addiction coming out of a broken family unfortunately is all too common in America, but I hope my story sheds light on the fact that we can overcome our demons. If you have a similar story, please share! And if you yourself are dealing with an addiction, just know you are amazing inside and out and have the strength within you to break those chains!
Peace & Love,
Brett
