Sunday, September 22, 2013

Gifts of Recovery

A social gathering last night at a suburban Mesa home featured interesting guests.  Four had been homeless at one time or another- some for long periods.  Several had served prison time.  Most of the others had been arrested.  And each of them had been addicted to either drugs or alcohol.

Years back this disparate group couldn’t have been around one another for long without committing a crime to obtain drugs or else fighting with each another. Some of their histories in the drug world are lengthy and scandalous.

Yet today their picture is entirely different.  For example, two had purchased new automobiles within the last 24 hours, which they proudly drove to the event.  All have responsible jobs, either with TLC or as stay-at-home mothers. Three of the couples have young children; one a newborn.

And the way these folks arrived at their status today is they all got into recovery. A couple of them have over 20 years. The most recent arrival to recovery has a little more than four years.

One thing all of the men have in common is they started their recovery at TLC. When it was discovered they were serious about changing their lives they were given management responsibilities.

After working at TLC for a while they found helping others into recovery to be a rewarding mission. So they now have the best of both worlds: helping others get sober while staying sober themselves.