The Story of Little Christina: Teen Recovery

Closing out our September, “Teen Recovery” series is the powerful story of Little Christina—a girl who grew up in the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous and became the woman she always needed as a child.Christina’s childhood was marked by trauma, instability, and addiction. Abused from a young age, she began using drugs to numb her pain, often alongside adults much older than herself—even her friends’ parents. By 16, she was given the chance to enter prostitution, but by the grace of God she was instead placed in an institution, where she was introduced to the fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous. While her unlucky friend continued using and was lost to institutions, Christina was spared and given a new beginning.Her journey was far from simple. Living with Crohn’s disease and battling mental health struggles worsened by medication, she received one of her first recovery coins in a psych ward—where her sponsor came to celebrate her. She returned to high school, got engaged to a fellow addict from rehab, and grieved as relapse stole that relationship away. While trying to get her friend clean, brief relapse of her own reminded her of her powerlessness, and back in the psych ward she turned her will and life over to the care of God. Though still couch-to-couch, she stayed clean.At just 20 years old, Christina became a mother, building a family even as instability and her husband’s relapse forced her to start over. With courage, she stepped into a male-dominated field, climbed the professional ladder, and created financial stability strong enough to buy her own home—offering her children the safety she never had. With the tools she learned in Narcotics Anonymous, she even started a women’s committee at her workplace, paving a path for other women to follow. Today, with 17 years clean, Christina is a loving mother, a successful working professional, and a beacon of service. She carries with her the memory of every version of “little Christina” who longed for safety, love, and hope. Through the fellowship, faith, and resilience, she has become a guardian angel—not just for the many versions of herself, but for anyone still searching for a new way to live.