Standing in the middle of the pedestrian walkway of the Interstate 5 Bridge, Shannon Smith accepted a hug after uttering the words: “I never thought I’d be here.”
Just over a month ago, Smith was standing in the same spot facing the line of cars speeding by, contemplating walking into their path.
“The last time I was on this bridge, I was ready to leave this world,” she said.
“But now I’m facing this way,” she said, looking at the glistening water of the Columbia River. “Today is a joyous day to be on this bridge. … Today I’m loving life.”
Smith was one of hundreds of people who gathered on the bridge Monday to celebrate success in sobriety at the annual Hands Across the Bridge event. In its 14th year, the event brings together people in recovery from Oregon and Washington to join hands on the bridge as a show of solidarity in the ongoing fight against substance addiction.
“The whole message of this is that you’re not alone,” said Marie Nederhoff, who came to the event with Smith.
Nederhoff said that she and Smith help each other get to meetings and motivate each other to live a life of sobriety.
“Addiction is the loneliest thing. You feel like there’s no way out,” she said. But then you get around people who have lived a sober life, she said, and it’s inspiring.
“It got me thinking, if they found a way out, I can do it,” she said.
Nederhoff is 75 days clean and is working hard to keep that number climbing so that she can regain custody of her children.
“I want my kids to know there’s a better way to live life,” she said. “If you want it, you can get it.”
Attendees of Hands Across the Bridge also met in Esther Short Park to listen to speakers, visit booths and enjoy Oxfest, a music festival.
James Hayes, 49, was one of the speakers who took the stage for the Faces of Hope presentation, in which those in recovery held up their mug shots to show how far they’d come.
“I have well over 100 mug shots,” Hayes said. “I went to prison 10 times.”
Hayes described himself as an upper-echelon drug dealer that was addicted to methamphetamine from age 14 to 40.
“It takes everything you had and breaks you,” he said. “It took my kids, my freedom, my relationships, everything I ever owned.”
Hayes said that finding his faith saved his life. Now he has a job, writes spiritual poetry and preaches in the Larch Corrections Center.
“When you hit rock bottom, you can see the bottom line,” he said. “I went from a 10-time loser to a child of God.”
Tracey Jennings, one of the event organizers, said that seeing hundreds of people such as Hayes helps her in her own recovery.
“It reminds me why I do this,” she said. “We do recover, we can get better and we can live happy, productive lives.”
