Vice President JD Vance honored his mother, Beverly Aikins, at the White House Monday to commemorate her reaching 10 years of sobriety. <\/p>\n
‘I remember when I gave my (Republican National Committee) convention speech, which was the craziest thing, and I even said during the speech that we would have your 10-year medallion ceremony at the White House,’ Vance said in the White House\u2019s Roosevelt Room, according to the Washington Examiner. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
‘Well, here we are,’ Vance said. ‘And you made it, and we made it. And most importantly, you\u2019re celebrating a very, very big milestone. And I\u2019m just very proud of you.’ <\/p>\n
At the Republican National Convention in July, Vance said that Aikins would hit 10 years of sobriety in January and promised to bring her to the White House ‘if President Trump is okay with it.’ Vance presented Aikins with a medallion on Monday to celebrate the major milestone. <\/p>\n
Vance outlined his mother\u2019s battle with sobriety and substance abuse in his book, ‘Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,’ published in 2016. Specifically, the book chronicles Aikins\u2019 struggle with opioid addiction. <\/p>\n
According to Vance’s office, Aikins’ advice to those struggling with substance abuse issues is ‘to reach out, to try to get help, and that recovery is hard, but it\u2019s so worth it.’<\/p>\n