Sarah has 15 years in recovery today

It seems we have a day to celebrate today.....Today Sarah has 15 years in recovery! 

A feat accomplished through her willingness to take care of herself each day in a way that suits her well. I try to tell her regularly how much I admire her for what she does to maintain her life in recovery, and, on this day, her big 15, I get to say it again. Sarah speaks powerfully to the reality that there are multiple ways to support a life in recovery.  Hers is through her exercise, strong connection to friends and family, music, and a strong quest for always learning how to help her's and others physical health. 

In the last several months I have seen Sarah in action in all ways in her life. I see her excitement at bringing people into her world of exercise through the Fitness Club at the KCRCO. If someone expresses an interest in improving their physical health I see how she lights up with excitement at the prospect of helping them.  Whether it be talking about the right shoes to wear, what kind of stretches to do, or certain layers of clothing, Sarah has in depth knowledge and is at the ready to give them help. It is really a powerful thing to see how passionate she is about this. It's powerful because under ten years ago Sarah didn't walk around the block let alone run marathons!  She has ran to many timed runs to count, she has climbed mountains, she puts 100% into her physical health on a daily basis. On a broader scale Sarah shows up to nearly all the KCRCO events!  She has been a strong supporter of our mission from day one and I am always grateful for this reality. 

We lost Harper. The old man was 15 1/2 and his body was tired. Walking through this with Sarah was a moment in time that was both painful and moving to witness. To see her grief, her knowing he was leaving, to see how she sat with him in his final 24 hours was both painful and moving. Having an old dog, knowing their time could come any day is an interesting period of life. Sarah and I both had old dogs together. Cheba left the earth just over a year ago and through that time period Sarah stood squarely by my side. We have done that for each other for the over 20 years of our friendship.  Thus, when Harper's time came, that's where I was, squarely by her side. She walked through this with strong emotion and with a knowing that she would get through it. We miss Harper and Cheba, and, because we support each others lives in recovery, we walked through both of their lives ending with all that comes with losing a life long companion and made it through to the other side. 

On this day, Sarah has 15 years. To state the reality of the last few months being hard for her is something that must be done.  Why?  To show others that we can walk through hard things in recovery. We learn in recovery that life still happens. We learn that we can care for our dogs for their entire lives, from day one as puppies, to the very end when their lives end as old dogs. 

We learn, as Sarah has done well, that we can do these things without a return to drugs and alcohol by having strong support around us. We learn, as Sarah shows us all, that we can use our unique way of maintaining a life in recovery through use of tools that work for us as individuals.  We learn, as Sarah gives credence to, that doing even the smallest of things to improve our physical health, also works to improve our mental health. We learn, as Sarah shows us on her 15th anniversary, that recovery works and lives change.