Patty Eastin’s Story

My Celebrate Recovery Story

Hello, my name is Patty Eastin. I am a grateful believer in Jesus Christ, who currently suffers from grief, anxiety, and anger issues. 

I discovered Celebrate Recovery about eight years ago while dealing with my hurts from my divorce. About six years ago, I completed my first 12-step study through CR. When completing the inventory of my hurts as part of this study, I realized that there were still other hurts in my life that I needed to work through. I discovered that I had major anger issues against my mother and brother. 

I was raised in a beautiful, loving Christian home. My parents loved me and my three brothers and took really good care of us. Most of my childhood memories are beautiful and precious. However, I don't remember the exact age, but when I was young, around 6, 7, or 8, I became a victim of sexual abuse by one of my brothers. This is not something I have talked about easily throughout my life because I carried a lot of shame and guilt from that entire period of my life, even though I was the victim. 

I had no idea I had bottled up anger against my mom until I went through this inventory. I came to realize that the anger with my mother was because she did not protect me from my brother. Early on during this abusive time, my mom discovered my brother in the act of abusing me. However, she simply told him not to, "do that again." She never followed up (not even once) with me or my brother to ensure the abuse had stopped. Worst of all, she continued to leave me alone with my three brothers when she and my dad needed to be away from the house. The abuse continued for over five years until I was old enough to stop it myself. 

Now fast forward to my late adult years when I went through this inventory, I discovered my anger against my mother; however, it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I finally uncovered why I was so angry with my mom. My mother, who was supposed to love her children equally and unconditionally, yet favored the brother who abused me; he could do no wrong in her eyes.

Then, when I moved into a brand new home with my parents after my divorce, I discovered that my mom was a controlling person. She tried to control my decisions, who I hung out with, and how I spent my time when I wasn't working. Before sharing a home with her (being over 50), I had no idea she was controlling. It made her angry when I refused to allow her to control me. And her attempted control affected our relationship from that point forward. It was hard for me to understand that my mom could favor this brother who had abused her little girl and one of his daughters when she was 12. This act caused all four of his children to be uprooted from their home and put in foster care, where, unfortunately, they suffered other abuses. He ended up going to jail for six years, but when he got out, my mother felt like she had to make up something to him; she chose to ignore the part of his life that caused so much pain for so many people.

With the help of Celebrate Recovery, I have experienced healing from the divorce hurt. God miraculously healed my relationship with my ex-husband about 3 1/2 years ago and we are currently in the best place we've ever been, which makes me a very happy woman. 

I am currently going through my second 12-step study to try to heal from the hurt caused by my mother and brother. I am confident that by working on my healing diligently with the Lord's help through Celebrate Recovery that I will be able to experience the healing I have needed for over 50 years. I thank the Lord every day for Celebrate Recovery!!!