Darlin’ Darlene
Sharyl Stommes, Gift of Mary Missionary
I will try to put together a humble picture of a darling, faithful, and humble daughter of God - Darlene. A woman who has experienced an unimaginable amount of neglect and abuse and yet exudes gratitude, and easily became for me my “darlin’ Darlene”.
I first met Darlene in the summer of 2024. She is 65 years old, with long beautiful dark hair, 4’ 10”, and a spunkiness that you admire. Her smile is pure sweetness despite not having any teeth. Darlene is one of nine children, a twin, and came from a broken home whose father struggled with alcoholism. Darlene started drinking at the age of nine along with many of her siblings. Her twin brother eventually passed at an early age due to alcohol poisoning. Her early years were marred by abuse from her father, brothers, and eventually other men. She eventually married and had two children. Darlene eventually separated from her abusive husband, but her addiction eventually escalated to a point that landed her on the streets. Darlene was a delight in our day center - we were always greeted with a hug and she never left without giving us all hugs. If there was singing she would sing, if there was dancing she would dance, if another woman was struggling she would be there to listen,comfort, and encourage. A shining quality about Darlene was her gratitude and faith. After sharing a bit of her story and the abuse she experienced from men in her life she would look you in the eyes and say “but God is good, and he’s never left me, and he never will leave me. I know I’ve got him.”
Darlene asked to go to rehab and achieved five weeks of sobriety before sadly getting into an altercation with another woman in the program and was asked to leave. She came back to our day center and it was beautiful to receive her, affirm her for the five weeks she achieved, and know that she trusted us enough to return to us to ask for help. She said “this is not the life I want to live, I know what I have to do, and by God’s help it’s now time to do it.” She said “I knew I needed to go back to my girls.” In addition to working to get her back into rehab, we encouraged her to reconnect with her sister to see if she could help. Her sister, Kathy, also struggled with alcoholism, but has achieved 30+ years of sobriety and now assists others in their sobriety journey. Darlene went back to rehab and eventually was moved to a three quarters way house and reconnected with her sister. She experienced several months of sobriety but eventually relapsed.
Darlene’s journey of battling alcoholism is far from over. We are grateful to God to be brief witnesses of her faith in His providence and her trust in Him. As I sat with her on her many phone calls for intake for rehabilitation centers, she was asked many hard questions about her past abuse from her father, brothers, husband, and men on the streets. She would always express such gratitude towards the person on the other end for taking the time to talk to her and end with “God’s got this.” Darlene has emphasized for me the persistent love of God. That no matter how many times relapse may happen, Darlene has a home of hope with us and with our Heavenly Father who will never abandon her. That helpless nine year old girl is God’s delight as he endeavors to bring her home to her dignity in his eyes as being unconditionally loved.
March 24th, 2026