07/09/2026
I didnāt publish parts of my story because I wanted the world to know my past.
I published them because I hoped my story might help someone else understand their own.
Or help someone who loves a person walking through addiction or trauma understand theirs.
Writing my story was never about sharing every detail of my life with the world.
In fact, what I have shared is only parts of my story ā the parts I felt ready and called to put into words.
It was about putting pieces of my own journey onto paper ā remembering parts of myself and my story I had buried deep, understanding, forgiving and finding my own way forward.
Writing was part of my own Journey to Freedom.
It was part of remembering.
Part of understanding.
Part of forgiving.
And a huge part of my own personal growth.
But somewhere along the way, as I began putting these pieces of my life onto paper, something inside me kept sayingā¦
You need to share this.
Not because people needed to know my past.
But because maybe someone needed to know they werenāt alone.
Maybe someone needed to see that our past does not have to be where our story ends.
That change is possible.
That when we are ready to choose ourselves, we can begin to heal, grow and create a different life.
And there was another really important reason I chose to share parts of my story.
For the families.
For the parents, partners, friends and loved ones watching someone they love walk through addiction, trauma or a destructive chapter of their life.
I wanted to offer an understanding from the other side of addiction and trauma.
To help them understand that as much as they may desperately want to save the person they love, they cannot walk that journey for them.
You can love someone with everything you have.
You can be there for them.
You can reach out your hand again and again.
But until that person is ready to reach back, ready to accept help and ready to choose something different for themselves, there is only so much you can do.
I also wanted to help people understand that sometimes the choices we make arenāt because we want that life.
Sometimes theyāre how we learn to survive what we donāt yet know how to face.
I know that was true for me.
Letās face itā¦
I never woke up one morning and thought, āF**k yes, today Iām going to become an addict.ā
Addiction was my survival.
It doesnāt excuse the choices I made or the hurt caused along the way, but understanding the why behind those choices became an important part of my healing.
That is why I shared parts of my story.
Not for sympathy.
Not because I wanted everyone to know my past.
And certainly not because I believe my journey is everyone elseās journey.
I shared it because if even one person reads my words and feels a little less alone, a little more understood, or finds hope that life can look differentā¦
then sharing it was worth it.
The day I launched my book was one of the most heartfelt days of my life.
Not simply because I had published a book, but because of what that day represented.
For me, it was a new beginning.
And one of the most beautiful parts of that day was watching my parents.
Watching them finally breathe a little easier.
Watching them see that I was okay.
That my new beginning was really here.
That after all the years they had spent worrying about me, they didnāt have to carry that same worry anymore.
There was something incredibly special about seeing that sense of relief in them.
That moment will stay with me forever.
Because publishing my story wasnāt just about looking back at where I had been.
It was also about recognising just how far I had come.
My story isnāt about who I was.
Itās about everything it took to find my way back to myself.
And that will always be my WHY. š¦
With love,
Bee xx
