Still on vacation, I awaken early this morning, maybe around 3 AM, to loud screams coming from the beach.
At first I think I'm dreaming. So I start to drift back to sleep. Then another scream. And loud voices.
So I jump up and go to the blinds, thinking I'm witnessing a murder. Ready to call 911. Adrenaline pumping.
When I look out, I see three figures. Two are embracing one another, screaming. The third is running around them in a circle waving his arms and hollering at the two who are in each other's arms.
As my brain starts to awaken, I realize that these three guys are either drunk or high. Probably having some kind of lover's quarrel.
Eventually they seem to work it out because the noise subsides. Or maybe they took it further down the beach.
I unsuccessfully try to go back to sleep. But instead I sink into a reverie about how alcohol and drugs have been a central theme in my life since I was a young child.
First it was my father's alcoholism. And later it was my own as I did my best to not become my father. But I not only became a drunk like him, I also became a heroin addict.
And when I eventually got sober and clean at 51 substance abuse remained a central theme of my life.
Maybe it's karma. Or maybe it's God's will that alcohol and drugs are at the core of my life: either as a practicing alcoholic or addict. Or in working with addicts and alcoholics or the past 23 years.
In any event, it’s turned into a mission that has likely saved my life.
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