Life.Worth. Recovery

Growing up in a household with no structure I started using alcohol as a coping mechanism at a very early age.  I would come and go as I pleased.  Lacking discipline, I started to run with the wrong crowds, just trying to fit in.  As my drinking progressed, I thought that having a child would get me straight.  I was wrong.  I got a job doing construction to try and support my family.  

The lifestyle that came along with my job had me drinking even more.  It wasn’t long before I was alone and jumping from house to house trying to crash for a night or two.  I do remember brief periods where I thought I was gaining control of my life, but they quickly vanished and the progression of this disease started taking a toll on my life.  I couldn’t hold a job, I wasn’t in my children’s lives and I had lost all hope.  At this point, I was basically drinking myself to death.  

As I sat in jail after my 5th D.U.I., I was really trying to figure out what my purpose in life was.  I went before a judge a couple of months later and she asked me a question that I’d never been asked before.  She asked, “what are you going to do about your drinking?”  I replied, “I don’t have a solution.”  She ordered me to be interviewed at The Extension.  That was by far the best thing that ever happened to me.  I got accepted in and immediately felt a sense of relief.  The structure and discipline I received are what I had been longing for.  I got a sponsor and jumped right into working the steps.  I quickly got a job that I stayed at for 3 ½ years and moved up to a supervisor position.  I went to the I.R.S and faced my creditors head-on.  I owed them $120,000 from never filing taxes, but they saw what I was doing with my life and they reduced it to $4,300 to be paid in 2 years.  

Today, I have my driver’s license back after 5 years.  I have a vehicle and I now have a wonderful relationship with my 3 children.  I recently joined the Motion Picture Union as a carpenter and have had the privilege of meeting world-renowned actors and actresses and I will have my name appear in the credits of a future film.  

To anyone who has lost hope, do not give up!!  The relationship with my Higher Power is the most important thing in my life.  The Extension continues to save lives.  I have not only seen miracles happen there on a daily basis, but I have also experienced them myself as well.  It gave me hope, taught me to contribute to society and to be the man I am today.  

-Anonymous Alumni of The Extension