Adrienne Banfield-Norris and Jada Pinkett Smith.Photo: Jason Mendez/Getty
Adrienne “Gammy” Banfield-Norrisis grateful for 31 years of clean living.
“So I’m outside and I just wanted to take a few minutes to be peaceful and still,” began Banfield-Norris. “Today is my anniversary, my clean date. 31 years.”
She went on to quote Narcotics Anonymous' mantra of “one day at a time,” before referencing a passage from the program’s Basic Text.
“When at the end of the road we find that we can no longer function as a human being, either with or without drugs, we all face the same dilemma.” the passage read. “Either go on as best we can to the bitterends — jails, institutions or death — or find a new way to live.”
Said Banfield-Norris: “That passage couldn’t be more appropriate on a day like today because for me, that passage is about surrender.
‘I spent so many years in that insanity of active addiction, running in and out, and just that revolving door — you know, trying to get my life back together. That surrender was a struggle,” the talk show host explained. “But it was the surrender that was the beginning of the change in my life.”
Banfield-Norrisdetailed her past drug addictionduring an emotional episode ofRed Table Talkin 2018 with daughterJada Pinkett Smith, admitting that she “abused drugs for over 20 years.”
“I think I didn’t find out my mother was addicted to heroin until I was in my teens,” Pinkett Smith, 50, said at the time, adding that she could “tell when my mother was high” when she couldn’t pick her up from school on time or was “falling asleep in the middle of something.”
“You just realize, oh, that’s not being tired, that is like, a drug problem,” she added.
Willow Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield Norris.Sophy Holland/facebook
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Banfield-Norris then admitted that she got clean when a man she was interested in wanted to start a relationship with her; however, she got to a point where she wanted to stay clean for no one else other than herself, and eventually, religion began to play a huge part in her clean lifestyle.
“I had to come to the understanding that there was a power,” she said. “That God had been looking out for us, you and me both, through all of that. And I just had to let go and surrender so I could receive what he was trying to give to me, through other people.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please contact the SAMHSA substance abuse helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
source: people.com
