Sober24 - Recent Features

Saved By a Cat

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:49:59 -0400

When I got to high school, I was self-conscious, had braces, didn’t make friends easily...then on my 16th B-Day I discovered what all the fuss about the drink was. Had my first drink(s), became brave, outgoing, "fun" -- and drunk. Liked it so much that I became a regular at the military base bars nearby, drinking and dancing until closing.

The Eight Secrets of AA’s Survival

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:23:17 -0400

Why did AA survive and thrive when most of the pre-AA recovery societies failed to outlive their founding generation?

What it was like, what happened, and what it’s like now

Wed, 27 May 2009 10:13:50 -0400

By Belinda S.

Well, where to start? I know that I was an alcoholic long before I took my first drink. As long as I can remember I have had this feeling of being different. I felt that I was not as good as other people. I grew up thinking that I was a bad little girl.

Race and Recovery: The Big Leagues

Thu, 14 May 2009 10:25:09 -0400

By Jerry Brooks, Powder Springs, GA

Wandering the streets at 2 a.m., I saw the blue lights. I ducked and held my breath, but the patrol car eased beside me. The officer got out of his car, walked over, and pointed the flashlight in my face.

‘People, Places, and Things’

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:32:19 -0400

By William Celis

“A haze,” is how Pierre describes his first few days of treatment for his addictions to Valium and alcohol.

Letters from Readers

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:36:30 -0400

A number of readers have recently been in touch with Sober 24, telling their stories and sharing their experience, strength, and hope with us. If you’d like to be in touch, too, you can “Tell Us Your Story” at www.sober24.com/E_Zine/Submissions/159/. We’d love to hear from you.

Voices: ‘I couldn’t count on myself; I couldn’t count on my emotions’

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:54:43 -0400

At 28, Holly is a cute blond who most people would never guess was once a serious drug addict.

Forty-Four Years In Al-Anon

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:23:35 -0400

I am eighty-two years old, in good health and happy to have spent the last seven years married to the love of my life. The joy that I have in my life today is a direct result of the fact that I crawled into “the rooms of Al-Anon” forty-four years ago, in absolute rock bottom  desperation.

T.U.I – Teaching Under the Influence

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:25:45 -0500

Principal Jimenez’s dark, charcoal-colored eyes stared straight into mine. Her voice was almost a whisper, “I received a call from the administration office downtown. They gave me some disturbing news and I need the truth.”

Letters from Readers

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:45:21 -0500

Pushing It to the Limit

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:01:00 -0500

I grew up very poor with alcoholic parents and 8 brothers and sisters. There was a lot of abuse. I started drinking when I was 5, and by time I was 8 I was an alcoholic and addict. I smoked pot and took speed and downs every day. Nothing was better than to getting up and smoking a joint.

Voices: ‘I couldn’t count on myself; I couldn’t count on my emotions’

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:53:19 -0400

At 28, Holly is a cute blond who most people would never guess was once a serious drug addict.

SPOTLIGHT ON… Letters from Readers

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:19:27 -0500

Choices Abound to Help You Stay on the Path to Recovery

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:23:11 -0500

Back in 1944, Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson observed that “the roads to recovery are many.” Today, that holds true more than ever, which is good news if you’re looking to stay clean and sober.

A cautionary tale from a child prodigy of substance abuse

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:19:54 -0500

At 23, Tony L. is a college sophomore making up for lost time. He's on the dean's list at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, an amazing turn of events given his flagrant 12-year history as a drug and alcohol abuser — drunk, crack smoker, paint huffer.

Letters from Readers

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:53:15 -0500

Realistic recovery: How to survive the first year

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:37:30 -0500

Once you’ve emerged from any alcohol or drug treatment program, the real work begins: staying clean and sober. People in recovery and those who support them all agree that the first year is the most difficult, a bewildering time when relapse is most likely to occur.

One family’s generational struggle with addiction

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:00:06 -0500

I am, at the least, a fourth-generation alcoholic. So, too, is my wife Deirdre. Our 22-year-old daughter, Carrick, is a recovering heroin addict. Most members of our family have been successful professionally — Deirdre’s father was an attorney and judge; my side of the aisle brims with journalists who kept the proverbial pint flask in their desk drawers.

Help and Hope

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:35:36 -0400

Sometimes the simplest needs can bring about the most startling change. For Michael Seaman, who was consumed in the murkiness of alcoholism, the basic comforts of a shower and a meal opened the door to a fresh life. They became the symbols of washing away years of addiction and satisfying not just an empty stomach, but an empty soul.

Letters from Readers

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:41:08 -0400