In honor of Deborah Marie Nowak, a mother whose love was never changing and Amber Lynn Beherns, a deeply loved and missed daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, and friend who regrettably lost her battle to addiction; we are raising money to help others reclaim their lives.
Deborah was the true embodiment of "A mother's unconditional love" and was continuously readily available to help all her children (including others who simply called her mom) in any way she could. In most families where children are ostracized for being gay, trans, struggling with mental health issues and/or addictions; Deb embraced us and loved us all. She was frequently said to be "the mother figure I needed growing up" and "an example of what kind of mother I want to be". Deborah battled cancer for 7 long years; during that time, she often put aside her own struggles to support her friends, children, other family members, and most importantly her grandchildren. Our mother was a survivor her whole life starting with being taken from the reservation and placed into foster care separating her from her siblings, having her first-born son stolen and placed up for adoption, experiencing the traumatic loss of her infant daughter, and escaping an abusive marriage to save her children and herself. Through all the trauma she endured, she always managed to find joy in life and move with love regardless of the hand she was dealt. Deborah recognized pain in others and was quick to take them in and love them as her own, regardless of their background.
In a world filled with hate, judgement, selfishness, and stigma; move with joy and love as Deborah did.
Amber Lynn manifested light even in the darkest of rooms, her love for life was undoubtedly contagious all while she was fighting in the hardest of wars, addiction. She never let addiction prevent her from trying to live the most adventurous and fulfilled life possible. Family, especially her young nephew, was her drive for fun and her motivation to keep pushing when life began to feel impossible. Amber was unmistakably ruled by love, joy, and loyalty which incapsulated the phrase "ride or die"; she would always find a way to come help you regardless of her own struggles. She had an everlasting love for animals such as reptiles and amphibians, although she loved all animals, her love for her dogs was unmatched. Amber was a fun, loving, supportive, and extremely involved aunt which created an unbreakable bond with her nephew. She was a sister and a daughter who would fight until the very end to protect her family at all costs, even while fighting for herself seemed worthless. Amber was a sober support, seems ironic as she was struggling with her own addiction, but she used that to keep the conversation open and honest. She used her own life and story to eliminate the loneliness, shame, and misunderstanding from a life of addiction. Humor was used to make the experience feel more human, create a connection, develop a trusting bond, and exchange stories of the past to dismantle the shame. While she was struggling with her own attempts at recovery, she was always cheering on those who were moving through it.
Be the light in this dark world, and move with love just like Amber did.
Please consider donating as Rocovery Fitness helped me (Shay), and many others like me get sober and maintain sobriety.
ABOUT ROCOVERY FITNESS
Through fitness and community, ROCovery helps people rebuild lives, regain strength, and reignite passion for life. Since 2015, we have helped more than 10,000 people find hope in recovery with ROCovery Fitness—and we couldn’t do it without your support.
ROCovery Fitness is funded entirely through private donations. Our annual Run/Walk is our biggest fundraiser of the year and one of the area's signature events for recovery from addiction. Your participation helps raise awareness, and helps raise much needed funds for ROCovery Fitness.
If you have not registered for our Run/Walk event yet, click here to navigate back to our event page!
Annual ROCovery Fitness Run/Walk
