A Lasting Vacation From Crisis

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I started drinking at the age of 7 with my dad. We would have a couple of beers and go fishing together. From there I moved to having glasses of wine with my grandfather while we watched the Yankees play on television. I’ve pretty much been drinking for the last 28 years.

I grew up, got married, had a house and a good job in construction. I would go out after work with my co-workers and boss and drink most days. My drinking started to get worse and towards the end I would drink an average of a case a day. In the end, I lost my marriage, my house and my job – all because of my drinking.

After I lost my construction job, I ended up going on the carnival circuit. A former graduate told me about the Rebound program while I was in Pennsylvania. I needed to get away from there and could choose a job in Louisiana or the Rebound program in North Carolina. For some reason North Carolina stuck in my brain. For a year I thought about coming. Then my carnival job endd, I took my last paycheck and bought a one-way bus ticket to Charlotte.

While I was at rebound, I learned more about alcohol addiction and the medical aspects of addiction that I had never known. I learned a lot in class, especially how to understand and apply the Big Book.

After graduating the Rebound program, I have started to slowly get the things back that I gave away while drinking. I now have a good job, a stable place to live in the Halfway House and most importantly, I have my self-respect back.

Before, religion was not a big part of my life. Now I pray in the morning for strength to stay sober. I pray during the day for strength to handle the situations that come up and every day I ask, “OK, what can I learn from this?” Every night, I remember to thank God for one more day sober.