RECOVERY STORY OF THE MONTH
My name is Josh A and I’m an alcoholic.
Today 2/1/25 I celebrate 1 year of uninterrupted sobriety.
My recovery story isn’t anything special or glamorous –– it was exactly like we hear at meetings all the time.
What it was like, you ask. It was absolutely terrible. Nothing about it has been fun or glamorous, and it’s been a literal hell for well over 20 years.
I’m a chronic relapser I’ve been in every treatment center for men, from Cleveland, as far east as Ashtabula, as far south as Warren. Every men’s recovery house in Cleveland at least once. I’ve been in and out of The Ed Keating Center since 2016, and every-time I thought I needed to just get the drug’s out of my system, get back to work, and everything would be fine – I could go about my life. And I repeatedly found myself in the same situation every time. Strung out, homeless, broke, and humiliated every single time, and not a single time was different this last time.
January 31st my phone rang, it was Marty. “Hey kid how’s it going?”
On January 10, 2024 I moved out of the Rock after six months of sobriety. Everything was going good… so I thought. I wasn’t doing anything I needed to do to stay sober.
January 31st my phone rang, it was Marty. “Hey kid how’s it going?”
He knew how it was going. Same as it always was, terrible, and he knew it.
He said very calmly, “Kid, just come on home.” I didn’t want to at all, as I’d completed day treatment three times in 2024, but I did, and I really didn’t think anything would be different this time. I figured it would be like every other time, get my weight up, do my house job, go to the meetings, get my money right, and my plan together, and I’d go try again to do it my way.
I’ve built a life and a motorcycle I’m not willing to give up anymore.
That’s not what happened. What happened was I was encouraged to take care of myself, and that first started with recognizing and addressing my mental health. Then came addressing my physical health. I found a different sponsor and was granted a certain freedom to go to different meeting where I found recovery and examples I wanted to live like.
It hasn’t been easy… but it’s been simple, follow instructions, talk about how I’m feeling… listen and do, and before you know it, a year has gone by.
I still live at The Ed Keating center cause this time I’m in no rush to leave.
I’ve built a life and a motorcycle I’m not willing to give up anymore.
The Keating center never gave up on me, and for that I’m forever grateful!!