The sourest of lemons in life are sometimes the best!

As the expression goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

I'm here to tell you I've taken some of the sourest of lemons and made some of the sweetest lemonade and you can to!

Growing up my childhood wasn't "normal" so to say, but it wasn't bad in my eyes. I had to grow up very quickly due to my circumstances. My father was an alcoholic and mother also suffered from addiction. I never understood their addiction until I was older, but looking back now I see the ways it affected my life.

It was around 6th grade when I started understanding things more. I began to understand what addiction was and knew both my parents were suffering from it. I noticed things like depression in my parents, sadness and the way their addiction was controlling their life.

I felt abandoned. I felt like drugs and alcohol were more important then me. I hated my parents. I was mad at Heavenly Father for making them mine. I'd lie to my friends and tell them my parents were amazing. I'd tell them I had a hot, home cooked meal ready for me every night and my parents were always checking in on me. None of these things being true. Most nights I'd scrounge up enough change to walk to McDonalds to eat and walk home from school because I was forgotten about.

As I grew older my anger turned to sadness. I was so sad for my parents because I began to realize they were suffering from a disease and they needed help. I knew they wanted to be good parents, they wanted to give me the best life, they wanted to be honest with me, they wanted to stop doing what they were doing for me. Their love for me was real, but they couldn't love me because they couldn't even love themselves.

Things went up and down through the years. There were good times and bad (I'll spare you the details) but in 2010 our lives changed forever. I remember when I was younger I'd pray for my parents to stop using. I prayed for understanding and patience. I never thought all of those prayers would actually be answered especially the way they were.

I remember it like it was yesterday. My father came home from work, it was January of 2010. I remember he didn't look good at all, completely different from when he left that morning. His whole body was swollen and he had a yellowish tint to his skin. I asked him if he was ok and he simply said he didn't feel good.

Over the next several days he got worse. He went to the doctor and the tests didn't look good. The results were devastating. I remember the doctors exact words, "Your father is in end stage liver failure." It was Cirrhosis of the liver. The news hit me like a ton of bricks. So many questions were running through my head and things became foggy. I wasn't sure how this happened so suddenly. How could my dad be fine one day and the next he's on his way out? What do we do next, how do we fix it and the worst question of all, how much time does he have left?

As a family we decided to continue his care at UCLA. We were living in Las Vegas at the time, but the type of care he needed wasn't provided there. Right away we started the process of organ donation. After several very confusing, long steps my dad was put on the list for a liver transplant. Then it became waiting game.

Over the months my father became sicker and sicker, unrecognizable, He started to loose all mobility and his mind. He was slipping away very fast. It's truly remarkable how many functions your liver performs. You don't realize it until yours stop working. The terrible thing about transplantation is you have to get sicker before you get better.

This whole time I remember thinking, Heavenly Father how could you do this to me? Haven't I been through enough? I became angry. I hated the thought of drugs and alcohol. Substances ruined my life, my childhood and now it was about to take my father away from me. Strange thing is, during the whole process I had a sense of comfort and calmness.

It was November 2, 2010. I was in Las Vegas getting ready to head to LA to visit my dad. He was in the hospital at the time because he was so sick. He was set to go on dialysis that day because his liver failure was now causing his kidneys to fail. We were told he only had weeks to live. It was right around 5 in the morning. I was loading up my car when I got a call from my sister Jessica. She was sobbing uncontrollably and couldn't get a word out. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach, I knew it, I knew then my father was gone.

By the grace of God, that wasn't our fate. As she calmed down she finally was able to tell me the news we'd hoped and prayed for. She said, "Dani, they're taking him back now, he got a liver." Think of all the emotions under the sun and that's what I was feeling. I was so happy, but so sad. I couldn't stop thinking about the man who had to pass to help my dad live. What type of family did he have? Was he married? Did he have children who's lives were just shattered? I had a sense of guilt, but also unimaginable gratefulness for his selfless gift. The nausea subsided and I hit the road.

I got to LA several hours later and after 10 long hours my dad was out of surgery. The doctor came out and sat with us. He explained every little detail and told us what to expect from start to finish. I truly felt like I was among and angel. For the first time we had hope.

The next few months was touch and go, progress and set backs. Fast forward all these years later my dad is doing amazing! He is a new man and has a new lease on life. He is no longer trapped by the evil that is addiction.

Although it wasn't the way I had hoped, it was in fact the answer to my prayers. Heavenly father did it on his own time and in his own way. The process was one of the hardest things I've ever been through, but through it came the best blessings. My family was the closest it's ever been, it allowed us to talk about our feelings, about addiction. We were able to be honest for the first time and not hide from our problems. We knew if we could make it through that then we could make it through anything.

The strength that was within me to get through that was always in me. I was able to overcome obstacles all of my life. Because of the things I went through I never touched drugs, I tried hard in school and did the best I could in every situation. I graduated college with a 4.0 in broadcast journalism. I worked my butt of and got my first Reporting job in Fargo, North Dakota. Yikes! Then worked my butt off again to get hired back in Las Vegas. After two years back in Vegas I was able to land the job I'm at now in Phoenix, Arizona. I was able to get from market 117 to market 12 in a matter of years. (For those who aren't familiar with the news business, that's a really good thing... :)

I was recently married in the Manti, Utah Temple to the most loving, kind hearted, selfless, hardworking.... the list goes on.... man I could have ever dreamed of. I know we will have an amazing family one day. He is such a blessing.

I've never let my circumstances define me. I knew what I wanted in life and knew the life i'd have if I would have continued the cycle.

Because of shame I've never wanted to share my story and I would never want my parents to feel less than. My parents had issues, but they were the best parents for me and did the best they could. I have forgiven them completely and love them wholeheartedly. I'm so grateful for them. On the outside people want to look perfect and in most cases their miserable or struggling. No one is perfect, nor will anyone ever be. Being vulnerable is never easy, but if I can help just one person with my story then it's worth it to me.

This post isn't to toot my own horn or get a pat on the back, instead to show anyone reading this that you don't have to fall victim to your circumstances. You can rise above anything and change your future. You can break the cycle and you can create the best life you could have ever imagined.

I did it and so can you!

DM