"Three weeks into honest sobriety, I found myself finally coming clean about using marijuana and prescription pills eighteen months after treatment."
Three weeks into honest sobriety, I found myself finally coming clean about using marijuana and prescription pills 18 months after treatment. One Sunday, I found myself sitting in the tiny spiritual chairs with my young son attending the preschool Sunday School. It was suggested that I talk with the teacher; the elder had said we might have a lot in common. I asked her to lunch. We spent nearly four hours together talking about both of our divorces and children. She shared with me that her husband had an active addiction. I told her that I was three months sober (a lie). A few hours after our date, I called and told her the truth that I was only three weeks sober. From that point onwards, we were inseparable. We both supported each other through our divorces. Her kids started calling me “Daddy.” We had so much in common. We talked about bringing our families together to be able to give each other the best of both us. We got married, bought a new home, and had a child.
This is why I am sharing my story. I heard that sobriety would bring rewards and would be beyond my wildest dreams. I never thought they would be in the form of being a responsible father. My sponsor would say “good things happen to drunks who don’t drink.” With sober supports, I have been able to stay in recovery through a divorce, bitter child custody battle, losing two jobs in recovery, and losing both my grandparents. I have been able to stay sober through repairing my past, getting married to the Sunday School Teacher, being a father, starting new jobs, and helping others. I keep doing the simple things that were suggested to me early on. Stay in service, stay in the solution; I don’t need to do it alone.
