Happy Sunday! Summer here with the rest of the falling down part of my story.
Look, it was a long way down. I landed in a City in Missouri. I got a job at a local restaurant as a short order cooks helper. I made a few friends and got a place to stay. That gave me enough breathing room to come up with a plan for my life.... I answered an ad in the local newspaper for a sales job selling cars. I go the job. That was my introduction into a business other than managing a rock band.
I spent 12 years in that industry. My drinking continued and so did my sordid relationships. I moved place to place. Sales job to sales job. I inhabited all the little towns outside of the City.
A DUI here, a DUI there. I went back to cocaine use and went from powder to crack.
Then it got bad.
The disease of alcoholism and drug addiction are progressive. Drinking and getting high became the center of my world. Actually I was the center of my world. I learned that when I got sober. God, I thought it was bad before.
But running the streets smoking crack is like living in a Freddie Kruger movie. I actually fell so hard that even my drinking and druggy friends suggested I do something about my problem. They were getting tired of taking care of me.
The disease of alcoholism and drug addiction are progressive. Drinking and getting high became the center of my world. Actually I was the center of my world. I learned that when I got sober. God, I thought it was bad before.
But running the streets smoking crack is like living in a Freddie Kruger movie. I actually fell so hard that even my drinking and druggy friends suggested I do something about my problem. They were getting tired of taking care of me.
I found a 28 day treatment house outside of the city. It was cheap and my folks payed for me. I got physically better and I heard a few things. But my mind was too sick to see the truth. I could only see myself. After the 28 days I was off and running, AGAIN!
This disease is patient! It just waited for me to get out of that place. Alcohol would later beat me into submission so that I could take step 1.
Check back next Sunday for more of Summer's story!
We would love to hear your story too! Please e-mail us through the form off to the right and we will get in touch with you! The best way to stay sober is to help others - and sharing your story is a great way to do that!
Aww. I want to read the rest. Why not post the whole thing?
ReplyDeleteDawn Callihan - Alcohol and drug addiction is misunderstood by so many. If someone is predisposed to being addicted all it takes is one time for a person to experiment and life may never be the same. As a society we tend to understand more when organs in our body can't function well such as our liver, our lungs, our heart, and of course our our brain. If our brain is infested with cancer, many people have no trouble empathizing and supporting that person....advocating for them and for good reasons of course because the condition is life threatening.... but when our brain chemistry is altered by being predisposed to having an addition, it can seem that a person is choosing to live a certain way, that they are lazy when reality they are fighting a very real battle regardless of what it may look like. I don't know..I've also found that mental illness is often misunderstand where a person may appear to give up when in reality it might be twice as hard for that person. Sounds like you have been through a lot Summer and you are a survivor. So glad you shared your story!
ReplyDeleteWell said Dawn!! Thanks for the comment!
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