About Us.
Vivian:
Hi, I'm Vivian, and I am currently a senior at Martha's Vineyard Regional High School. I grew up in Arlington, MA but I moved to the island my junior year of high school.
​
Growing up in a home affected by addiction is not easy. As a child, I was too young to understand the overwhelming emotions I was experiencing. I knew something wasn’t right, but I felt isolated like I had no one to turn to. That feeling of helplessness is something I never want anyone else to experience.
The memories of those years will stay with me forever, but learning to work toward forgiveness has been the most transformative and healing journey of my life. It's given me the strength to move forward and find peace within myself. Addiction is a disease, not a choice.
Bella:
As someone who has experienced watching loved ones fight the battle of addiction, I know that it can be hard to ask for help. Not just for them, but for you. In the long run I learned that it wasn’t just them who needed to heal. The occasional comments people would make about how mature I was or how ahead of my age I seemed to be were all but flattering, considering that they were right. I spent less of my childhood being a child and more of it acting as a safety net, a therapist, and later an overthinker. But the worst part was that it all happened behind closed doors. I used to question why this was happening to me, why was this my life?, and more importantly why was I the only one?
It wasn't until I met some of my closest friends that I realized I was very far from being the only one. This affected people everywhere, especially in the small town I once thought was so big. I made peace with the fact that things take time to heal, and sometimes you have to break before you can glow. Recovery is a long drawn out process, it takes time, it takes willingness and acceptance. Eventually, I finally let myself feel what I needed to and talked to people who supported me in this. Today I am happy that I get to share my story with others in hopes that maybe one day I can act as that safe space for someone going through the same thing.
