Name: John (TattooTarzan)

Age: 34

Sober Since: 05 / 04 / 2011

Sober For: 12 Years & 332 Days

What it was like?

I grew up in a household woth my mother & farher drinking heavy, taking pills and smoking weed,so as I was growing up I thought it was just the right thing to do, I never thought my addiction would take over my brain in my thought pattern to make me make unhealthy decisions in life. I started getting high taking pills and drinking alcohol because I wanted to fit in with the crowd, for years things went pretty smooth and I recall having lots of fun in my addiction.

What happened?

When I was 27 years old my wife was pregnant for our second child, about a month later my wife was at the house and I was at work, so I called her and told her to go across the street by the dope dealers house to get some dope for us fronted. She was carrying on newborn child in her hand and she tripped over a stepping stone in his head hit the bumper of a car and it cracked his skull. She called me immediately and I met her at the hospital, the hospital called Child Protection because they felt something wrong, Child Protection made me sign a protective order against my wife stating she was only allowed to come see the kids under my supervision for 3 hours a day, at this time my wife had gotten sober but I was continually looking for loopholes faking my drug screens from Child Protection, two one-day Child Protection came to my house and told me I had to go take a hair test, two months later they showed up at my door and took the kids out of my custody realizing that I was on methadone, marijuana, alcohol pain pills, and Xanax. So thankfully my kids went to my mother-in-law's house for probably about a year-and-a-half and me and my wife was only allowed to see the kids for three hours a day under her supervision while I was going to outpatient rehab, then I realize I need it Inpatient Rehab so I went to this rehab called fountainblue treatment center for 28 days, I and met this guy about my age that was sober for about a year and I seen how he was changing his life at an AA meeting, so ask him to be my sponsor, right before I got out of rehab I got my phone number changed, and I was ready to change the people places and things and start a new way of life because I felt so guilty and so ashamed of my kids getting taken from me.

What it is like now?

So I got out of rehab, I got a home group at AA meeting, started cheering meetings once a week, I got a big book and started working steps with my sponsor, he was giving me chapter after chapter and assignment at the assignment and I was just desperate for change willing to go to any lengths to stay sober. Honestly at the beginning I only got sober so I can get my kids back, go through the process of working his steps especially steps eight and nine of the immense I decided to stay in the program and never go back to that life again, all the promises have come true for me in the program and in order for me to keep it I have to trust in my God, try to stay honest and work with other alcoholics and that's what I've been doing since May 4th,2011.. I'm 34 years old today and I'm extremely grateful for the life that I have, I also fell in love into the fitness industry, I have been training consistently a six and a half years and it's just like a new high I chase every day..God bless..Oyeahh, my son that got his head cracked on the bumper of a car is just like a normal child and extremely smart so I'm truly extremely thankful for that as well..

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