EDITOR’S NOTE: September is National Recovery Month. Sponsored by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the month is aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of substance use disorders and to celebrate the people who recover. The following was submitted on behalf of Link for Hope and Recovery Aroostook.
Hello. My name is Richard. I am an alcoholic.
It is very unusual for an alcoholic to write his story and share it with the public. I’m doing this because I believe that a lot of people need to know that there is help and there are success stories.
I am a Native American and have lived most of my life thinking that I was different. I am the youngest of a large family and I don’t remember a time when alcohol wasn’t readily available. I was surrounded by alcohol my entire childhood. When I came home from school, I never knew what it was going to be like at my house. I hated what alcohol did to my family, yet I began drinking at a very early age and was probably alcoholic before I entered my teenage years.
I married young and began a family, but made it clear to my wife that I was going to continue to drink beer. For the next 25 years I continued to drink alcoholically which caused problems for me and my family. I spent time in jail, mostly for driving drunk. The last time I was caught for OUI,I decided to attend a self-help program just to show that I was willing to do something about my addiction and get my license back. I had no intention of quitting.
They say that if you don’t get the program, the program will get you. That’s how it happened for me. I just kept attending those meetings and before long I was staying sober and enjoying it. I stayed sober for seven years and then began drinking again. I drank heavily for over a year every day. My last drunk almost killed me.
I returned to the meetings. What I have learned has created a whole new life. I live each day in peace and serenity, something I never experienced during my drinking days. Today I realize that I am not different or unique. I was sick with a disease called alcoholism. If I take care of myself, stay clean and sober, I will continue to live the life that I am enjoying today.
The promises of my program have come true for me and they can for you too. Sobriety has giving me many things, most of all it has giving me back my dignity. Sobriety has giving me new freedom and life. Sobriety has taken away the fear that I had during my drinking days. Today I do not fear the people I meet on the street. Today all of my bills are paid because sobriety has made me a responsible person. Today I am a spiritual person, I have a higher power in my life. All I ask for today is guidance for myself and my loved ones.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, you may find the help you are looking for at the following web sites or by calling the phone numbers:
http://csoaamaine.org/ Alcoholics Anonymous 1-800-737-6237
http://www.celebraterecovery.com/cr-groups/group-locator Houlton, 532-2783, Presque Isle 764-5187
www.al-anon.alateen.org/al-anon-in-maine Al-Anon 1-800-498-1844
http://www.na.org/ Narcotics Anonymous 1-800-974-0062
