December 28th, 2018, three days after a lonely, lamenting Christmas and four days before my birthday, I entered the doors of Recovery Point in Bluefield, West Virginia. At the time I did not understand the depths of my spiritual angst, nor was I aware of the miraculous transformation that was about to occur. A reconfiguration that would allow me to become the man my creator intended. The only astonishing fact that my comprehension permitted at that time was the fact that I entered long-term inpatient treatment before the day of my birth. However, there were moments during that day I will never forget, such as the kindness of a board member’s wife providing me with essentials and asking me to give myself the simple gift of staying when I got there. The fact that upon arriving at my destination I called a single family member, my father, revealing my decision to learn that when he became sober, over a decade prior, he completed treatment at an anteceding model.

The anger and emotional turmoil that raged inside of me was unknown even to me. I had suppressed it so long that it consumed me and did not allow anyone to truly get to know me, not even myself. The guilt, shame, and embarrassment of the love I had dissipated from family and friends were experienced in the safety and sanctity of a place I still, to this day, consider as sacred as a church. The fear that the inspiration, hope, and transfiguration that had occurred would be confined within those walls haunted me through the completion of the program which caused me to remain within the program, of my own volition, for another 3 months. I was without housing, a driver’s license, or employment but I had learned to value my sobriety and my life.

The belief of my brothers in recovery, the staff and the community I had obtained throughout my time there provided me the support to allow myself the patience to gain those basic living essentials so easily taken for granted. The skills I developed at Recovery Point West Virginia allow others to call me things I never imagined possible such as responsible, dependable, trustworthy, inspiring, a role model, a leader and a father.