OPINION:
The White House typically isn’t known as a public forum for personal affection, warm accolades and familial healing, but that changed this month when Vice President J.D. Vance celebrated his mother’s sobriety in a celebration that touched even some of his detractors.
“This year marks my mom’s 10th year of sobriety, and I’m grateful that we were able to celebrate in the White House with our family,” Mr. Vance wrote on X. “Mom, I am so proud of you.”
That celebration, held in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, was one that came with laughter, speeches, fond memories and showers of praise for his mother, Beverly Aikins, who once struggled with addiction to alcohol, Vicodin and later heroin.
In the bowels of Ms. Aikins’ addiction, Mr. Vance assumed these drugs would forever separate his mother from him and his children, but Ms. Aikins’ persistence and hard work to overcome her addiction changed everything.
The culmination of that life change was on full display as the Vance family — and, specifically, the vice president — showered accolades upon Mr. Aikins.
“When I think about everything you’ve accomplished over the last 10 years and the fact that when I was thinking about becoming a father, I didn’t know whether you would live long enough to have a relationship with my kids,” Mr. Vance said, according to The Washington Examiner. “And now here they are, almost 8, 5, and 3, and you’re the best grandmother that these kids could ever ask for.
“It is really an amazing thing to watch. It is one of the great blessings of becoming a father, is that I’ve been able to see these kids develop the love and the affection for you and to see it in return. And that’s just an incredible blessing.”
Such moments simply aren’t common in the political stratosphere, as candidates and officeholders typically whitewash their struggles, work diligently to conceal negative sentiments or simply ignore the blights and bruises in their personal lives.
Yet Mr. Vance has taken a vastly different approach as he’s had no problem opening up over the years about his past and addressing some of the raw and relatable issues with which many American families silently cope.
His history of self-disclosure was perhaps most pronounced by the release of his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which details his family’s plights with addiction, poverty and related struggles.
Mr. Vance’s White House ceremony calling attention to his mother’s past addiction and her decision to overcome her mistakes offers something profound to Americans. It’s a move unlike anything we’ve seen from vice presidents in recent history.
Undoubtedly, Ms. Aikins’ overcomer story offers hope to people embroiled in addiction — and to their family members grappling with the associated struggles. And with nearly 108,000 people dying from drug overdoses in 2022, alone, this issue is tragically pervasive.
When addiction takes over and people risk losing everything, the path forward can seem perilous and even impossible.
Yet Ms. Aikins found a way to climb out of that deep pit, picking up the pieces of her tattered life and rebuilding it. Consider that she lost her nursing license during the throes of addiction, but was reportedly able to regain it a few years ago after getting sober. Now, she’s a detox nurse who is inspiring and helping others who are trying to get off drugs.
“I teach the patients, and then I’m just there for them,” Mr. Aikins told The Examiner. “That is my purpose — to help people.”
Ultimately, Ms. Aikins’ ability to halt the dysfunction her addiction caused, course-correct and transform a personal dumpster fire into an inspiring mission to serve others is remarkable.
Equally notable is her son — the second most powerful individual in the world — using his platform to elevate the good, bad and ugly. Mr. Vance is giving people a lens into the unpleasant so they can see the bright light that can emerge with perseverance and devotion.
It’s a redemption story that our beleaguered culture desperately needs, and one that holds the power to change hearts and minds regardless of one’s political persuasion. This reality isn’t lost on Mr. Vance, who fully acknowledges the inherent power in his mother’s story.
“I meet a lot of people who think that there is no other side for those who suffer from addiction,” he said. “Unfortunately, we know that for some, that’s true, but for many, there is another side.”
Mr. Vance pointed to his mother as a prime example of one of the people who has been able to move forward and regain what she allowed addiction to rip away.
“Sometimes, you get an opportunity to be a great-grandmother to your grandchildren,” he said. “And sometimes, you end up celebrating your 10-year medallion ceremony a couple of months late here in the White House.”
In an era of rampant political toxicity, Mr. Vance’s celebration of his mom’s sobriety reminds us of the ties that bind us as Americans. Each of us has unique struggles and issues with which we must grapple, and it is through sharing our stories that others can so often find healing.
Kudos to Mr. Vance and Ms. Aikins for declining to conceal their journey and for using one of the world’s biggest platforms to highlight that overcoming addiction and subsequently leading a flourishing life is entirely possible.
• Billy Hallowell is a digital TV host and interviewer for Faithwire and CBN News and the co-host of CBN’s “Quick Start Podcast.” Mr. Hallowell is the author of four books.
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