One Year

January 19, 2016:  Bruce took his final drink of alcohol.  This is one year, to the day, from his last DWI ... an  anniversary he does not remember and one I cannot forget.

January 20, 2017:  Bruce celebrated one full year of sobriety.  One. Full. Year.  Thank you, Lord.

Last week he invited me to an AA meeting.  This is only the second one he has invited me to in all these years of struggle.  It was a small but wonderful group of men and women from our rural community.  Some spoke, some did not, but the discussion and conversation from those that did share was touching and thought-provoking.  These individuals come from varying backgrounds, occupations, and ages, but they all share the common thread of the disease of alcoholism.

Bruce received his one year coin at this meeting.  Each person there touched the coin and passed it on to the next until it came back to Bruce.  All giving their support.  All holding on to hope.

This is my plea to you today:  hold on to hope.  Just for this day ... this hour ... this minute.  Hold on to the hope of sobriety and recovery and living the wholesome life you were created for!

Alcohol - The Statistics

Alcohol ... it's a socially acceptable drug.  Wine at dinner, drinks out with friends, beer at the game.  "Everyone" does it.  There are people who never drink, those who rarely drink, and those who have a drink for special occasions.  I would consider these rather rare in my locale of small town America.  More prevalent are the social drinkers and binge drinkers.  And following those, there are problem drinkers and alcoholics.  It doesn't matter where one falls, alcohol will affect you and your family and friends at some point in your life.  Alcohol does not discriminate.

Consider these statistics as researched by Talbott Recovery: (https://talbottcampus.com/2015-alcoholism-statistics)

• Alcohol poisoning kills six people every day. (CDC)
• Three in four alcohol poisoning deaths involve adults ages 35 to 64 and most deaths occur among men. (CDC)
• The majority of alcohol deaths are among non-Hispanic whites. (CDC)
• 100,000 people die each year from alcohol-related causes: drinking and driving crashes, other accidents, falls, fires, alcohol-related homicides and suicides. (NCAAD)
• Of the 3.9 million Americans who received treatment for a substance abuse problem in 2005, 2.5 million of them were treated for alcohol use. (Drug Free World)
• In 2013, 24.6 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the past month. (NIAAA)
• Approximately 17 percent of men and 8 percent of women will be dependent on alcohol in their lifetime.
• Alcohol abuse is the third highest cause of death in the in the U.S. (due to its link to alcohol-related deaths.) (NIAAA)
• Teen alcohol use kills 4,700 people each year – that’s more than all illegal drugs combined. (MADD)
• Kids who start drinking young are seven times more likely to be in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident. (MADD)

STAGGERING

I have been married for 25 years.  I never dreamed that alcohol would be an issue in our family.  After a dozen or so years of marriage, though, I came to the frightening realization that my husband was an alcoholic.  I can’t recall one time in the three years that we dated where I witnessed him drink and I can only recall two times in the next seven years or so that I saw him drunk.  But sometime after that things changed.  Life changed.  I didn’t notice at first – I was too busy.  When I did notice, I chose to ignore it for a long time.  It will get better.  Only it didn’t.  And then, when I couldn’t ignore it any longer, things were completely out of control. 

Don't let it get that far for you.  If you or someone you know has a problem with alcohol, even if you just have the suspicion of it, please seek help.  It is available.  And it can help save someone's life.

The time has come ...

Graphic credit:  https://www.lizlamoreux.com/be-present-be-here/it-is-time.html

There is nothing small about one's story when we tell the truth about our broken and beautiful lives.  The time has come to tell our story.  In our telling, I pray that we will receive healing and restoration and you will receive encouragement and, above all, hope.