Season 8, Episode 3
Miriam
Age: 38
Location: Fresno, California
Addiction: PCP
What’s Memorable: Miriam’s story and personality are memorable on their own, but just the fact that she’s been doing PCP for 25 years is what’s amazing. I didn’t even know PCP was still out there, much less that someone could do it for that long.
Official synopsis: A charismatic reverend at a wedding chapel, Miriam, 38, is adored by her clients, but suffers inner torment. Sexually abused as a child by someone she trusted, Miriam turned to drugs at a young age, and now she’s addicted to P.C.P. Her family has practically given up on her, and she risks losing her daughter’s love. Can Miriam’s desperate family convince her to get on the plane to treatment?
Original Air Date: July 2010
Interventionist: Candy
Just want to leave a comment for Miriam I watched the episode and was so happy to hear how amazing it went for her !!! So happy she stayed sober and went to a place and then moved in with her daughter …. She looks so healthy and happy .. Good luck keep up Good work
Wow! I was rooting so bad for her, and had no idea really which way she would go at the end. Frankly due to her long term usage and that it’s a delirium type drug I was waiting for that last caption saying she relapsed. But it got better than sobriety, she wound up having her daughter live with her!
What a spirit she has, I loved watchjng her dynamic face and personality even though she was messed up from the drug. She has a lot of soul and beauty to her. I fiery spirit that’s for sure! Very lucky to have such a caring family, it’s interesting to see how a Latino family (Mexican) approached it. I personally find Latinos to be more compassionate and I think that was evident here. Her mother even came around.
I’m so happy she wound up getting her daughter back!
Hope you’re doing well to this day Miriam! Many blessings to you and your daughter and family!
I agree with everything you said and I think it really helped because based on the dates she stayed in treatment and then Sober living for a total of about a year and maybe three or four months! Because she came home May 2011 and it aired in July 2010 so it was filmed maybe January 2010-ish… I am really rooting for her!!! I just finished the show so I only read this one comment… So I’ll find out after I keep reading! One thing it just seems like so many people relapse right when they get home and that’s like the thing we see on the screen that we are like biting our nails and hoping to not see that on the screen and instead to see the sobriety date first! It seems like the majority of them relapse right when they get home even if they only relapse for a few weeks…so it was really nice to see that Miriam did not relapse but instead even moved in with her daughter!!! That was some thing that Miriam always wanted but could not get clean so that her one wish that she longed for could come true! I hope that she hasn’t relapsed yet but if she has sometimes this is just a bump in the road of sobriety and I hope that she got right back on track! God bless Miriam and your entire loving and wonderful family!!! ❤️
I just watched her episode. Such an amazing transformation! Are there any updates on her?
She is doing great it looks like from her facebook. https://www.facebook.com/miriam.gonzalez.5815
I don’t see anything past 2014. Hope all is well with her today!
I remember this episode, she was such a warm loving spirit, I loved her big heart and zest for life! I’m so glad she is doing better!!!
i haven’t finished the episode yet, but i really dislike how her brother sergio has miriam’s daughter calling him dad and his wife mom. he said “now i have to protect MY daughter from her own mom”. NOOOO, your NIECE! i think it’s great he stepped up and took sireena in and protected and cared for her when miriam couldn’t, i really do, but he is her uncle and his wife is her aunt.
Well they adopted Sireena so they are her parents. Sireena was a toddler when they took her in. Sergio and his wife children have their own children. Sireena probably started calling them mom and dad cause that’s what the other children called them. It would have hurt Sireena, if her uncle told her not to call them mom and dad. They did what was best for Sireena.
Miriam is lucky she was even allowed to see her daughter. Considering she was using the whole time. Sireena knows Miriam is her real mom and truly loves her as such. All that matters is Miriam stays sober and continues to have a relationship with Sireena and the her whole family.
I agree with you Ronnie 100% (and the comment below me by Jenny) everything you both said is exactly the truth and the way it should be! That is their daughter they raised her since she was very young and to not have her call them mom and dad when she probably wanted to you would make her feel not a part of their family and she could have developed emotional issues. They did a wonderful thing and possibly saved her life from being stuck in foster care and could have been physically or sexually abused and developed trauma or turn to drugs! This happens so much in foster care… some homes can be wonderful but some are the worst thing that could happen! I’m sorry to be so graphic but I want people to not talk bad about what her adopted mom and dad did! I know she still loves her mom because it is her mom but she really didn’t know her until she went to live with her after the show, which I was very glad that she did and was able to bond with her mom! I hope her mom was able to stay clean so that she can continue to cherish that relationship 🙏🏼
I don’t mean to be too hard on you Brooke I just realized you didn’t finish the episode so maybe after you watched episode you understood more…
No, Sergio and his wife legally adopted Sireena. She is THEIR daughter. THEY raised her from the age of 5. They have EVERY right to call themselves her parents, because legally and in terms of emotional responsibility, they are.
I tried this drug once because someone that we were hanging out with laced a joint with it. I swear I thought I was going to die. I had to go lay down on the bed because I felt so sick and scared as hell that this was the end for me. Never again. I don’t know how people manage doing this everyday and for as long as Miriam has.
I’ve been watching Intervention regularly on over-the-air TV, and this episode was on and just really got to me. Miriam is clearly bright, funny, and has an amazing spirit. She seemed to be like one of those rough around the edges straight shooters that I just get along with so well. It’s really so sad how estranged she is from her daughter and her family, and holy cow, PCP for 25 years?! My God…
I think what bothered me most about this episode is the role her family played in some of what occurred that ultimately led her toward addiction. After telling her family that she had been molested for several years, that no one believed her because she had “a reputation for being promiscuous” really made me angry. Her brother Sergio kept saying that she needed to take responsibility and many in the family expressed their disdain for her, without really acknowledging how their response to her molestation affected her. This has been an occurrence on other episodes as well. And yes, addicts are often manipulative, but that does not discount their humanity or that their experience and feelings need to be acknowledged.
But at the intervention, I softened toward her family as it was clear through their emotional letters that they do care about her. And her daughter was so sweet with her and makeup done, and her words were really touching. Even looking at Miriam’s mother who seemed to be so cold and unforgiving, I could see that she was really trying to steel herself from her emotions. Her face, when Miriam was getting in the van, showed how much she loved her daughter and how much she was holding back. It was thrilling that Miriam accepted treatment so quickly, and I was overcome watching her play on the beach and in the ocean.
I looked at some of the FB links posted above and found a more recent profile (I won’t post the link, but you can find it), but there’s little direct info on how she is doing, only what one can infer from it.
I truly hope Miriam has found peace, healing, and happiness. I wish her the best.
I assure you, they are well aware of their behavior and the probability that it heavily influenced her addiction.
This is her updated Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011234655412&sk=friends
and this is her daughters Facebook, whom is very active https://www.facebook.com/ANEERiS24
They both seem very happy, clean and in relationships. Thank god, as I prayed for only a happy ending, they all deserve only the best and brightest futures.
Her daughter had a baby! It looks like the babies a Virgo like her grandma Miriam! According to their Facebook‘s. I am a Virgo too!
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Her smile while her family was reading their letters to her said it all…she just really wanted their love.