Tresia Bruce

My name is Tresia Bruce. I was born and raised in LaFayette, Georgia. I enjoy spending my time with my grandbabies, my family, and my recovery family. I also enjoy going to meetings and working. I have been in recovery for 2 years and 8 months. November 27th will mark my 3-year anniversary. I was actively in addiction for 5 years. The defining moment that led me to getting the help I needed to find recovery, was that I was put on 15 years of probation. The first 6 months was intense with weekly drug tests. I failed the first 4 drug tests and my probation officer told me that if I failed the next one, she was going to send me to PDC. I came to the conclusion that my freedom was more important than getting high. I started going to meetings at Unified in Recovery, and was welcomed with open arms. I started going to a lot of places with Shelly Roach and Megan Fowler, working in recovery. Shelly always made sure I was part of the outings by paying my way when I wasn’t working. She always included me in everything and always encourages me to do better and showed me that sobriety didn’t have to be boring. She took me to see my favorite artists, Jelly Roll and Brandon Lake, in concert. She also included me in a trip to the Georgia capital. I always enjoy our girl’s trips with my sisters: Shelly Roach, Megan Fowler, Jennifer Rios, Teri Barnes, Kila Cameron, Heather James and Elsie Martin. Each and every one of these ladies have taught me a lot in my recovery, and the crazy part is that before I got sober, I was in active addiction with 90% of these ladies. I was close to them then, but they are my family, now. Each one of them play a big role in my recovery. I know I haven’t mentioned the guys in our group, but I am going to now. I have a lot of respect for Lifesaver, Jonah, Clay, Neal, and Andrew. Each one of them have inspired me and helped me in ways they don’t even know. They have welcomed me into their recovery family, and that’s a big deal to me. The best part of my recovery is, that I get to walk along side of my son, Andrew Smith, in my recovery. This young man inspired me in so many ways to take that leap of faith and stop cold turkey. Watching him do it, made me realize that I owed it to him and my other son, Edd Smith, to find myself and live a drug-free life. I would say to anyone wanting to begin their walk in recovery, if you want a better life, pray and give it to God. Find you a home group. Work the steps and practice the principles with a sponsor and put in the work to stay active in your recovery.