Taking steps towards addiction recovery

“It’s important to me because I’ve lost a lot of stuff,” Peequaquat said. “I’ve lost family connections, lost everything and if I can make amends with myself, I can make amends with everything like my family and the people I have hurt, and that’s really important to me.”

As a recovering alcoholic, Peequaquat said the walk symbolizes her ability to take control of her addiction.

“Recovery means taking back your life from addictions controlling you for so long. You can and you will take your life back,” said Peequaquat.

Once the group reached the Addiction Services building, they celebrated with snacks and refreshments while sharing their stories.

Addictions Counsellor Troy Pelletier was able to share his story with the group, something that he says is pivotal to his own recovery.

“It’s part of my recovery to give that back to others … to give the hope, to give the joy, the goodness that we get from recovering from this disease of addiction,” Pelletier said. “It’s a feeling of gratitude that words can’t explain. To have every single person that was in that walk today have the same bond that I do about recovery and what it’s like to truly find that something that a person looks for.”

Pelletier encourages those in recovery to be proud of their hard work and to take part in events like this.

“There’s the anonymity part that recover needs, and we don’t want to down play that at all because that plays an important part of anybody working through any type of recovery,” Pelletier said. “But what we want to do is celebrate the hard work it takes to get to these places in recovery so that’s what today’s all about,” explained Pelletier.

To end the event, silver balloons were released into the sky as remembrance of those who were not able to recover from their addictions.

“If you’re changing your life for the better and it’s taking you to a better place and you can put alcohol and drugs down, you’re in recovery, and that’s the beauty of recovery, it’s everyone’s choice,” Pelletier said.

Those in need of help are encouraged to contact Addiction Services at 306-765-6550 or the Alano Club of Prince Albert at 306-922-2976.

knguyen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @khangvnguyen

by Khang Nguyen

Taking steps towards addiction recovery

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