Johannesburg - Critically-acclaimed author Melinda Ferguson is celebrating 26 years of sobriety.
The Smacked author - a best-seller autobiography detailing candid details of her journey to recovery - took to social media on a lengthy post about her defeated addiction.
She gave her readers a snapshot of her trials, what she has endured and how far she has come to be enjoying two decades and a half of full sobriety.
"26 years ago I was on a homeless farm in the Magaliesberg, a broken heroin, crack and booze addict. I had lost everything; my baby boys, my husband, my home, my dignity and my sanity. I was surrounded by the beggars and tramps; the throwaways of this world. I had nothing," she said.
Melinda details how suicidal she felt in that dark period of her life.
"I really wanted to die. Kill myself. I was haunted and shamed by all the destruction I had caused to people in my life.
"And in that brokenness, I found the courage to face my hated self. Look deep into my soul and own the bad choices and decisions that had brought me to my knees. I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I decided to choose life. I decided to live. It was a minuscule step but I took it," said Melinda.
The self-published author who has released a span of titles under her independent publishing company - MF Books - also took her social media followers on a tour of her cabin in the picturesque mountains near Tulbagh and Ceres in the Winelands of the Western Cape.
A gift that she gifted to herself, she says, for her "hard work".
"I have worked so hard to be where I am. I am in the most amazing space. This 26 year sobriety birthday has just reminded me of how far I have come and how hard I have worked," said the award-winning author.
