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Angels in Recovery Center graduate shares story

Angels in Recovery Center graduate shares story

Posted: Thursday, June 4, 2009 12:10 pm

The Messenger, June 4, 2009
Born in Crockett County in 1960, I was the youngest of three sisters with five brothers. I attended church until I moved out on my own. I felt like I was OK — I didn’t have to go to church anymore. Soon I was pregnant and unmarried. The baby was a beautiful little girl. I decided I didn’t need a child so my mother started to raise her. Then came baby Joshua. Now I decided I should get married and raise my babies. Little did I know I had chosen 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 awhile. Then I got a job in a night club. What fun! I could work and drink and I became a work-aholic. This is swapping addictions around.
Things went well again for awhile. I dated a guy I only used to smoke his pot and I thought I had the best of both worlds. One day my second ex-husband tried to kill me with a shotgun and 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 and landed in jail. It was only about six hours and my brother and sister bailed me out.
The charges were dropped in court and my sister paid my court costs. That is when she began to be my enabler. I knew no matter what I did she would be there for me. We didn’t know it was enabling then, 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 hoping he would stop and I actually stopped. Two alcoholics cannot live in the same house long. He went to treatment but it did not help him. I went to AlAnon. 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 then.
My best friend and I started using cocaine. What a way to go – I thought. 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. My brother Scott, also in recovery, and my sister Shelia began to search for a place for me to get treatment.
They drove me to see the Angel Center in October. That is where I met Cindy and Ms. Marti. They arranged treatment with outpatient drug and alcohol abuse care daily at Union City Baptist Hospital. They diagnosed me with bi-polar 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 Baptist Church accepted me and loved me into their fellowship. They made it a joy to be part of the group.
It is amazing how many people help the Angel Center. They give us clothes, kitchen items, share food, personal things and prayer. I want to thank everyone for everything. I cannot tell how much this has meant to me. Angel Center kept me so busy in recovery 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.
Editor’s note: Marilyn celebrated her graduation at Troy First Baptist Church recently. She completed six months of commitment time working toward recovery and making personal, social and 12-step progress to finish the program.