I love the season of spring for many reasons. I enjoy watching the early blooming flowers and buds beginning to peek through the soil after the cold winter months. But it was in March 2010 Spring took on a deeper meaning for me. Our son. Lane was about to embark upon a journey that would bring hope, new life, rebirth, and renewal to his life. Alcohol and drug use started creeping Into his life during high school. In the fall of 2003, he had a season ending football injury. He lost his identity along with any hopes and dreams to continue playing a sport he so loved. This loss left a hollow place in his heart which he tried to fill with a variety of substances. Over the next 7 years he began a downward spiral that I wasn’t quite sure he’d survive. He was spiritually broken, no motivation and zero self-esteem. The dreams he once held for himself appeared shattered, but this would not be the end of his story. I had no Idea that on a spring night in March, 2010 getting arrested yet again would prove to be lifechanging. We got a call the next morning that he’d been arrested, and a powerful strength came over me that I had no idea I possessed. For once I began thinking with my head instead of my heart. It was the only way to keep my head above water. We immediately began looking for a treatment center for him. We thought he needed a recovery center that was beyond the norm of 30 days because that hadn’t worked in the past. A place where he had to get up, show up, work hard, and learn to be accountable. That place was BRC. We had a plan, and we were in charge this time around. We kept him in jail for 2 weeks before heading south to Manor. Hopefully this would be the place Lane would have a chance to heal. When I saw some of the other residents there I thought they looked different from Lane. I quickly realized these men were also someone’s son, brother, uncle…each one suffering from an incurable, but treatable disease. Instead of asking “why did this happen to our family,” I had to ask, “why not?” I held onto the belief that God was going to use Lane for a greater purpose one day I Lots of seeds were planted in his heart during his 90 days at BRC. BRC was his lifeline and thankfully he grabbed hold! Lane was given the tools to live a life in recovery, constantly paying It forward even 13 years later. Our family will always be grateful to the amazing team at BRC. They gave us our son back! The Family Afterward Program is an outstanding addition for family members, and I would highly recommend getting plugged in to their monthly meetings. Through our family’s journey, I have found that no one really understands what you’re going through unless they’ve walked down this path before. A quote from “The Wounded Healer” that I like to share Is “you can’t find your way out of the desert if you haven’t been there yourself.” Let’s be a light to others when they’re trying to find their way. You may find It helps you more than it does them.