Angel Center tells Marilyn’s story

Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 3:08 pm

I was born in Crockett County in 1960, the youngest of three sisters with five brothers. I attended church until I moved out on my own. I felt like I was ok then and didn’t have to go to church anymore.
Soon after, I got pregnant and was unmarried at the time. The baby was a beautiful little girl named Tabitha. I decided I didn’t need a child so my mother started to raise her. Then came baby Joshua. It was then that I decided I should get married and raise my babies.
Little did I know I had chosen to marry a full-blown alcoholic and the marriage only lasted eight months. Back in those days, I was clean and sober and his drug use was more than I was willing to put up with. I tried a second marriage and became a great enabler to another alcoholic.
There was physical and mental abuse before I came to my senses and got a divorce. I had no income, but I know now God was watching over me. I got a job and things went well for a while. Then I got a job in a nightclub. What fun! I could work and drink and I became a work-alcoholic. I began swapping my addictions around.
Things went well again for a while; I dated a guy and only used to smoke his pot. I thought I had the best of both worlds.
One day my second ex-husband tried to kill me with a shotgun. It is a good thing I have talking skills so I could talk him out of it. The next time he came at me, he broke into my house and I beat him with a baseball bat. I landed in jail.
I was only in jail about 6 hours before my brother and sister bailed me out. The charges were dropped in court and my sister paid my court costs.
That is when she became my enabler. I knew no matter what I did she would be there for me.
We didn’t know then it was enabling; we thought it was just helping out.
I held my own for a while. Good money came from a good third-shift job with lots of hours and no time for partying. It lasted three good years.
Then I went back to bartending; back to partying, drinking and drugging for another three years. When the Maytag Company opened up in Jackson, I landed a good job there and held it for over 10 years.
But on weekends it was on to partying. I did not think about the consequences of drinking and drugging. My third husband lived to drink. I got so tired of his drinking that I gave up hope that he would stop and I actually stopped drinking.
Two alcoholics cannot live in the same house long. He went to treatment but it did not help him.
I went to Alcoholics-Anonymous. Two years later his drinking destroyed what was left of the marriage and I began to use again. I started bartending on weekends and, as you can guess, it was downhill from there.
My best friend and I started using cocaine. What a way to go, I thought. During this time I lost my brother.
In a few years, I had no caring in me for anything or anyone and I was mad at God.
Why, oh why did He do this to me! I partied hard for days, wrecked my girlfriend’s car and got involved with her lies.
It finally made me say to myself, “Girl, you need to do something with your life!”
My brother Scott, who is also in recovery, along with my sister Shelia, began to search for a place for me to get treatment.
They drove me to see the Angels In Recovery Center in October.
That is where I met Cindy and Ms. Marti. They arranged day-treatments with Baptist Memorial Hospital in Union City. They diagnosed me with bipolar disorder. Through medication and proper teaching I am 100 percent better.
Here I am, 49 years old, living in transitional housing. We found that it was exactly what I needed. Life in the Angels In Recovery Center is an upward scale to living. I learned how to change my old behavior into positive daily living.
I learned how to love myself without the use of drugs and alcohol and to just be the person God wanted me to be.
The Troy First Baptist Church accepted me and loved me into their fellowship. They made it a joy to be a part of the group.
It is amazing how many people help the Angel Center. They give us clothes, kitchen items, share food, personal items and prayer.
I want to thank everyone for everything; I cannot tell you how much this has meant to me.
Angel Center kept me so busy in recovery that it was easy to want to change.
They taught me how to live life on life’s terms, to learn acceptance and gave me hope, courage and strength through loving and receiving love.
I will always cherish this time and the lessons learned through caring and loving God.
A grateful recovering addict,
Marilyn M.wcp 5-19

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