Michael is sitting with a corner of a room behind him, with a stone wall on one side and a tan wall with a picture on the other. He is wearing a grey sweatshirt and signing his story.
Hi everyone, I’m Michael. I’m a recovering alcholic. My date of sobriety is 12/03/2012. I struggled with alcohol for 12 years. I didn’t grow up drinking alcohol. Like many young people who are curious, I liked to taste different alcoholic drinks, such as beer, wine, whiskey, vodka, gin, rum and so on. I’d taste them, but I wasn’t that interested. Once I got drunk, but that was just part of growing up and it wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t become a serious alcoholic until 2000. I started realizing that I was angry and bitter inside. When I was growing up, I found my one true love, my one painkiller - rum. Rum is a liquor. I became best friends with Captain Morgan. We were best buddies. I would drink it non-stop to cover the terrible anger and rage inside me. I was very, very angry and completely bitter inside. The reason I was angry was because of my dad, my step-dad, family issues, friend issues, community issues, repressed emotions, physical abuse, neglect, rejection, frustration, struggles, and confusion. I had lost my identity. My opinion and value of myself as a person was gone. I turned to rum, but it didn’t solve any of my problems at all. In fact, it made me look even worse. It stole my identity. My identity became horrendous and ugly. Everyone, including my loved ones and close friends, withdrew from me, and I was left on my own. They’d look at me and go, “That’s not the Michael we know.” They were turned off and didn’t want anything to do with me. I’m opening my heart to you as a Christian person who is a hypocrite. Yes, I’m a hypocrite. I know that and I’m sharing it with you. When I was married to my ex-wife, I screwed up everything. I’d get drunk at work. I’d hide rum and drink it at work until I was drunk. I even drove drunk. I have plenty of stories I could tell you, but the point is - I was drunk every single day. I did terrible things, until one day, my ex-wife had had enough and said good bye to me, on November 29, 2012. She was done with me and wanted nothing more to do with me. I was caught off guard and hit rock bottom. It was a like a brick had been hurled onto my face at top speed and was left bleeding and utterly dazed. I realized that I had been relying on rum to try to fix my problems, but it hadn’t done any good. It was worthless. That day - December 3rd, 2012 - I rededicated my life to God. He is responsible for my life change. I’ve been sober ever since, thanks to God, who is amazing. My life is much better - I’ve remarried and next month will be my 7-year anniversary of sobriety. Thank you. You can do it!
Michael is sitting with a corner of a room behind him, with a stone wall on one side and a tan wall with a picture on the other. He is wearing a grey sweatshirt and signing his story.
Hi everyone, I’m Michael. I’m a recovering alcholic. My date of sobriety is 12/03/2012. I struggled with alcohol for 12 years. I didn’t grow up drinking alcohol. Like many young people who are curious, I liked to taste different alcoholic drinks, such as beer, wine, whiskey, vodka, gin, rum and so on. I’d taste them, but I wasn’t that interested. Once I got drunk, but that was just part of growing up and it wasn’t a big deal.
I didn’t become a serious alcoholic until 2000. I started realizing that I was angry and bitter inside. When I was growing up, I found my one true love, my one painkiller - rum. Rum is a liquor. I became best friends with Captain Morgan. We were best buddies. I would drink it non-stop to cover the terrible anger and rage inside me. I was very, very angry and completely bitter inside.
The reason I was angry was because of my dad, my step-dad, family issues, friend issues, community issues, repressed emotions, physical abuse, neglect, rejection, frustration, struggles, and confusion. I had lost my identity. My opinion and value of myself as a person was gone. I turned to rum, but it didn’t solve any of my problems at all. In fact, it made me look even worse. It stole my identity. My identity became horrendous and ugly.
Everyone, including my loved ones and close friends, withdrew from me, and I was left on my own. They’d look at me and go, “That’s not the Michael we know.” They were turned off and didn’t want anything to do with me.
I’m opening my heart to you as a Christian person who is a hypocrite. Yes, I’m a hypocrite. I know that and I’m sharing it with you. When I was married to my ex-wife, I screwed up everything. I’d get drunk at work. I’d hide rum and drink it at work until I was drunk. I even drove drunk. I have plenty of stories I could tell you, but the point is - I was drunk every single day.
I did terrible things, until one day, my ex-wife had had enough and said good bye to me, on November 29, 2012. She was done with me and wanted nothing more to do with me. I was caught off guard and hit rock bottom. It was a like a brick had been hurled onto my face at top speed and was left bleeding and utterly dazed.
I realized that I had been relying on rum to try to fix my problems, but it hadn’t done any good. It was worthless. That day - December 3rd, 2012 - I rededicated my life to God. He is responsible for my life change. I’ve been sober ever since, thanks to God, who is amazing. My life is much better - I’ve remarried and next month will be my 7-year anniversary of sobriety. Thank you. You can do it!