My name is Maddie Nicklas, and I am an addict. I’m 31 years old, and I’ve been clean since December 15, 2017. I was born in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. My childhood was anything but normal, and that just might depend on different perceptions of the word “normal.” My first memory as a child was finding my father passed out on the floor from drinking. Of course, I didn’t understand that. I was about two years old or younger at the time. Other memories around that age were of my parents fighting. My mother, who only wanted the best for me at that time, would put me in a room so I wouldn’t see them fight. As I was screaming and kicking the door, I remember feeling terrified. My mother got a divorce when I was two years old.