|
History and Dedication
By Cindy Black
The name "Rea of Hope"
comes from an AA member Betsy Rea who is now deceased. Betsy Fletcher Rea was
born in Dunbar,
WV in 1930 and at the age of 8 was
stricken with polio. The years that followed would involve times of sacrifice
and courage for the entire family. She would endure numerous surgeries;
hospital stays and separation from her loved ones and would never be mobile
again without the aide of crutches, braces or a wheelchair. This was the
beginning of what would shape her life and character.
Betsy graduated from high school,
earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from
Rollins College
in Winter Park,
Florida and returned home to Charleston, WV. She
taught elementary school and started Valley Kindergarten in
Teays Valley.
Betsy would marry, divorce, raise three daughters
and eventually enjoy six grandchildren and one great-grandson.
Betsy encountered numerous situations
that shaped her unique life, never relinquishing the strong determination
that served her so well through both the disease of polio and then later the
disease of alcoholism. She would find recovery from alcoholism in the spring
of 1981. Her eighteen years of recovery can best be described as a place
everyone wanted to be.
Whether it was an AA meeting, or in her
home, the coffee pot was on and people surrounded her chair to fill the place
of home and belonging. Her life ended on February 13, 1999.Carrying on in
Betsy's memory, several people volunteer their time, energy, and resources to
make a difference in the lives of other women recovering from the disease of
alcoholism/addiction in West
Virginia.
|
