From being an absent parent to now a present mom

The Drug Court team poses with the program’s two newest graduates. (Kimberly A. Bautista)

From being an absent mother, Emma Iriarte now describes herself as the present mother she always wanted to be.

She credits her turnaround to the Drug Court program of the CNMI Superior Court.

Last Friday, Iriarte and Waedynne Maratita officially completed the program with a graduation ceremony at the Superior Court.

According to Iriarte, five years of using methamphetamine caused her to lose everything, including herself, but most especially her family and the joys of being a mother to her four daughters.

After over a year in the program and over 200 days of being sober, Iriarte has been able to completely turn her life around.

“Drug Court helped me a lot. It helped me gain my life back, [it] helped bring me back to society, basically everything. It helped me get a job, helped me with my family. My relationship with my family now is really great,” she said.

Despite her many strides forward, Iriarte said she still struggles with her addiction day to day, that triggers are unavoidable during recovery.

“The hardest thing that I had encountered was just running into triggers. Even alcohol could be a trigger,” she said. Yet she knows that recovery is possible. “I just take it one day at a time,” she added.

According to Drug Court judge Theresa Kim-Tenorio, Iriarte entered the program during the program’s infancy and was eight months pregnant, but she was able to complete the program.

Maratita also acknowledged losing her family at the time when she was still an active drug user. She said it came to a point where she was literally homeless and she and her partner were living off just one can of beans.

Today, Maratita plans to stay on the path to recovery and even go back to school and get a degree so she can help others who also struggling with drug addiction.

“I have plans to move because its best for me and I want to get back to school. Probably get into a field just like these brave people in Drug Court, to help others and make a difference one person at a time,” she said.

Maratita encourages others who are still struggling with addiction to get help before it is too late.

“It just takes that one hit. I lost everything, I lost everybody at one point and I almost lost my life and you don’t want to get to that point. If you know that you’re already losing things you value in your life, please start getting help before it’s too late. Don’t wait like I did. There’s a lot of help out there. All you have to do is reach out. Recovery is possible.