Cedar Knolls Meeting Report

He was an older man in his 60’s and also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Keith struggled with sobriety and still does however; his stories were geared around the military. He said that the military in a way helped him become an alcoholic. The military by no means persuaded him but it aided him by the governmental money he received for being a member of the Marines. He told us that all he would do is make the money for his services then he would blow it on alcohol and fun times in the bar. Keith was very blunt about his experiences and even called himself an asshole. He thought of himself as a good guy but then he said he would vomit in the bathrooms and clean off his face just so that he could still party with the people in the bar. He called himself an asshole because he said he was a funny drunk but when people looked at him they just got really mad. Keith said that obviously he got into a lot of fights and he wasn’t scared of anyone. After his experience with alcohol in this manner he came to the conclusion that being sober was going to be the right thing for him even though he knew it was going to be a struggle everyday of his life. One important thing he said that I thought was the highlight of the meeting was about being sober. He said, “Its true what they say about being sober; it stands for son of a bitch everything’s real.” This really hit me because even

As she begins to tell her name and she been 13 years sober. As she begins her story that she lives in Columbia and as a young age she started drink during her high school years. She says that there are not Alcohol Anonymous in Columbia. As she continues saying that as she went to America to live with family and going to college, her drink went up a notch. As she took class and learn of A.A., that when she started going. She says that the meeting was strange, but as time go on she started to get sober.

“My dad enjoyed alcohol; a lot. He never yelled at us, but when my mom was having her ‘episodes’, that was what we called them, he would leave us alone with her. He said he had trouble dealing with her when she was having problems. I think he was cheating on my mom, but I could never prove that and he would never admit to it either.”

Judi, it was a pleasure to read your post it was straight to the point about substance abusers. I agree with you about not realizing how chemical substances affect the human brain and body. Judi you express how love and support was shown at the AA meeting and I agree. However, the only thing I did not understand how each attendee remind them that they are an alcoholic, I think they have a better chance to relapse, with that type of motivation. The substance abusers have a better chance to stay sober with a more positive perception, like saying I am no longer an alcoholic. The whole key to sobriety is to reprogram the mind, this way the abuser will not retain negative information of being an ex-alcoholic. I like how you think addicts should

Alcoholics anonymous is a support group that is a mutual “self-help group, organized through an international organization of recovering alcoholics that offers emotional support and a model of abstinence for people recovering from alcohol dependence using a 12-step approach” (Amato, Davoli, & Ferri 2009). The self-help group uses its 12-step approach through the idea that dependence is a spiritual and a medical disease (Amato, Davoli, and Ferri 2009). The meetings are reinforced through ritual and it starts with “introductions, storytelling, and reflections, so that participants need not contribute their own stories until they are ready someone else somewhere in the room will have something to share” (Beels 2007). In the room many slogans are

Twenty-one years old my middle brother began to drink constantly on a regular basis. Problems back home had influenced him in drinking, but also the people he correlated himself with back then. He took quite some time to overcome his addiction, but during his intoxicated moments he resembled that of Victor’s family. One night during my brother’s intoxication my brother had come down to our house to get away. When my brother rang the doorbell, I quickly rushed towards the door, opening it to find my brother’s eyes bloodshot red. Walking in face forwards he slowly took what felt like one hundred paces to our red couch, which already contained a few broken springs on the left cushion. Once reaching the target he plopped down like a heavy book

As I walked into St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church, I was welcomed by everyone I passed by. There was a pleasant odor filling the halls that a fresh cooked meal was being prepared making me feel like I was at home. As I walked into the hall members of all ages were there to attend the Wednesday Night Recharge ranging from cute little infants, to

He did it, he actually did it. He went five whole years without a single drop of alcohol. Once again it was time for their vacation at the lake. They were all excited of course, but they were also nervous because they knew it had been five years and they had no idea what their dad was going to do. That night, Alfonso had a couple drinks, but nothing too crazy. Everyone especially Cynthia was relieved. If a person has an addiction and they successfully quit..they should never go back. Alfonso's drinking started to gradually get worse and worse again. He would start right after work on Friday's and stay drunk until Sunday. Sometimes he would go to work Monday mornings with a hangover because as much as he begged Cynthia would not let him call out. She used to tell him, "You made the decision to do this now you gotta man up and be responsible." His drinking got so out of control that they all had to start hiding his keys or his wallet..sometimes both. It would make him so mad because he knew they were hiding it but they would just say to him, "I don’t know dad, you had them last when you were drunk." He would tell his family, "The more you all try to control me, the more I'm going to drink." He said he felt as if he was being treated like a kid..and maybe he was, but it was for his own good. May 15, 2015 a day the family will never forget. It was a Sunday morning and Alfonso had already been drinking. Ronnie was in his bedroom with his girlfriend, Alyssa and all of a sudden he heard his dad yelling, "Someone go buy me more beer." "I need more beer!!" "Son!! I need beer." Cynthia had taken his keys and told him, "You don’t need to drink anymore, it's still morning and if you quit now you might get to sober up and go to church service at night." He agreed and calmed down for a little bit, but then Cynthia left to work. When she left he started to act up again. Ronnie was always good at calming him down

The morning was wet and gloomy. Hunter and I approached the church, the wind was blowing at his tie, and sweeping through my dress. We walked into the house of God and found our spot on the hard pews. Shortly after our classmates found their seats and joined us. They stood alone with their sponsor behind them. Waiting their turn to walk up to the bishop and speak in front of the church. Yes, Hunter and I walked up to the bishop alone but when we both returned, we returned to someone, unlike our class mates.

The social influence that exists for Mr. Favel is the feeling of abandonment from his parents and seeing at a young age their alcohol addiction then having their male neighbor sexually abusing him causing trauma and the urge to forget the past. These cause Mr. Favel to have an addiction to mainly alcohol, but also to glue and nicotine. Mr. Favel has denied that he doesn’t need any assistance but with his recent blackout from alcohol overdose that landed himself in the hospital he is considering speaking with a counselor about this substance abuse after a youth worker convinced him to go speak about his problems and current situation in his life.

This case study of about a 66 year old male named Robert, who presents with long term alcohol abuse. Robert is married to Colleen for the last 44 years during which time they had two daughters. Robert is also a grandfather, brother and friend. His oldest daughter Harriet sought intervention

I attended a school event in which Erik Fisher, a former drug abuse came to talk about is experience with drugs and alcohol with regards to college. He started off by talking about how even while in high school he struggled with the use of drugs and alcohol. His first year in college he was able to play college basketball at a division 2 school. After the first few months past, he found friends that partied and did drugs. He started to handout with that crowd and began to skip class and eventually fail most of his classes. This was a reoccurring cycle that happened many times. He went to many different colleges to play basketball but would not give up the drug and alcohol use. While he was in California playing for a college basketball team, he became suicidal. One night he decided that he was going to take so many pills, that he wouldn’t wake up in the morning. However, he woke up by a train track wanting to run in front of a train. He looked at his wallet and saw a picture of his baby brother and that is when he decided to get help. That was the first time that he decided to speak to a counselor and stay sober. However, that did not last long, he found himself going down the same downward spiral. This time, the spiral was even worse, he hit a car head on going 70 miles an hour, killing the other driving immediately. He woke up in the hospital and decided it was time to take responsibility for everything. He spends three years in prison and other year in boot camp. He

My most imminent goal is to, through college at Cedarville, gain an education that is necessary for excellence in modern business. I plan to get a job utilizing a degree in either Computer Science or IT Management, so the work would be either in programming, or in a more businesslike environment. However, I believe that in either setting, God has given me the skills and tendencies necessary to become a leader in the group. Whether or not this manifests as a leadership position in the company, or as a dedicated employee who can encourage and assist his coworkers, I can't tell yet. However, I believe that, through Christ, I can make inroads into the lives of people in the work environment to make a positive impact on their lives.

I was standing in front of a brown brick two story luxurious Roman Orthodox church when my grandma collapsed on the heated concrete floor. Men standing near the elegant wooden doors leading towards the entrance of the church rushed out to help. As they were carrying my grandma inside the church doors, men and women of all ages were peeking through the circular windows above each of the arched windows. I stopped for a second because I was in disbelief. My grandma was fine twenty minutes ago. She was standing in one of the lines wrapped around the velvet red row seating of the church waiting to get a sip of the wine. While everyone was gathered around her I found myself observing the church. I had been going there for six years and it was the

I look into my uncle’s hospital room and look at him lying there fast asleep. He looked as light as a feather and as fragile as thin porcelain china. I walk in and his eyes suddenly open and he greets me with shaking open arms and says “Hey Ty!”, I reply “Hey Uncle CC!” and sit in the chair next to his hospital bed and relax for about 20 minutes. I began to say “I remember when we had a huge feast at Grandma’s house for thanksgiving and you had gotten so drunk you knew it was time for you to leave.” “Yeah that was a good time, having all the family together as we did” my uncle says, pausing for a little. “Although I never really left” he says as he’s hanging over his hospital bed, laughing himself into tears. He continues, “The porch had been my bed that night. Your mom was on the way out of the house, when she had found me in a deep sleep on the porch steps of mom’s house.” “Hey Uncle Carl, could I ask you a couple questions about your use of alcohol for my school paper?” I ask as I adjust his pillow and recline his hospital bed to a comfortable incline. My uncle looks at me with his watery eyes and fragile body and says “Yeah of course Ty.”