Adrienne Banfield-Norris Celebrates 31 Years Of Sobriety: ‘That Surrender Was A Struggle’

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Red Table Talk host Adrienne “Gammy” Banfield-Norris recently celebrated a huge milestone.

The famous matriarch took to Instagram on Dec. 22, where she announced the 31-year anniversary of her sobriety after struggling with heroin addiction.

In an emotional video, Banfield-Norris explained that she wanted to find somewhere “peaceful and still” to reflect on her difficult journey.

“Today is my anniversary, my clean date. 31 years,” the mother of actress Jada Pinkett Smith said. Banfield-Norris then began to quote a passage from Narcotics Anonymous, using the script to tell her followers that she was taking her journey against addiction “one day at a time.”

She continued:

“When at the end of the road we find that we can no longer function as a human being, either with or without drugs, we all face the same dilemma. Either go on as best we can to the bitter ends — jails, institutions, or death — or find a new way to live.”

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The 68-year-old explained that the “passage couldn’t be more appropriate” for her sobriety milestone, noting that its powerful words were all about surrendering to her difficult addiction.

“I spent so many years in that insanity of active addiction, running in and out, and just that revolving door — you know, trying to get my life back together,” she added. “That surrender was a struggle, but it was the surrender that was the beginning of the change in my life.”

On a 2018 episode of Red Table Talk, Banfield-Norris opened up about her over 20-year-long battle with heroin. The talk show host explained that her struggles with addiction began in her teenage years.

“I was just a teenager in a really unhappy space, somebody that was just really uncomfortable in my own skin,” she explained. Elsewhere on the emotional episode, Jada confessed that she did not find out about her mother’s battle with heroin until she was in her teens.

“I could tell when my mother was high,” The Matrix Resurrections star said at the time. “She couldn’t make it on time to pick me from school. Or she’s nodding off, falling asleep in the middle of something. You just realize that’s not being tired. That’s a drug problem.”

We’re happy to see Gammy making strides with her sobriety. Congratulations!

 

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