My Story...

James

I was born and raised around 47th Street in Chicago – the ghetto. It was the “Blue Light District” and I saw the best musicians, like Billie Holiday, Joe Williams and Charlie Parker, perform in the local clubs. Using was something almost everyone I knew did. If you didn’t, you were considered a square. Alcohol was never my thing. I was into heroin and dealt it for many years. I had a long career because I was a maintenance user, always keeping a handle on it. I also hustled at the pool hall and ran dice, making enough money to bribe cops and hire good lawyers. In those days, that could keep you out of jail. Eventually one day, I ran out of money.

The toughest judge in Chicago mandated I go to a place called Brandon House before reporting to serve time in the Vandalia State Penitentiary. It was the first of many times I spent in and out of treatment centers. I could stop using for a while, but could not stay stopped. I was put on methodone, but started abusing that. When my dear wife, Betty, passed away in 1992, I took it hard and really went off the deep end. I lost about 50 pounds and was detoxed off methodone. My son, who lived in Minnesota, knew I was depressed and had me come to live near him. Secretly using while staying in a St. Paul sober house, one day I just became sick and tired of being sick and tired. My sponsor, a retired addictions counselor, said what I needed was to be with older people and recommended Senior Recovery Program, which surprised me because my problem was using drugs and I thought they would focus only on alcohol. But at this point I was willing to try anything.

Senior Recovery Program was different. It has saved my life. I’m 72 years old. It took me a half century to get two years of sobriety – but it’s been the best two years of my life. One of the staff, Judy, took an interest in my struggle and kept me going with her encouragement. After a while, I felt I just couldn’t disappoint her. Now she is teaching me how to use computers to help with some of the office work. I also do some work through Lutheran Social Service’s Senior Companions program that allows me to give back. Once in a while a truck driver friend of mine lets me ride along with him back to Chicago to see my daughter. Sitting up in the rig, we park down by a place on 47th and watch the deals go down below us. I know all the moves, and can tell exactly what’s going on. It makes me feel grateful that I don’t have to live like that anymore. Thanks to Senior Recovery Center I nowknow a good life I could never have imagined.

Because Golden Years are Worth Recovering.

Senior Recovery Program
253 State St  |  St. Paul MN, 55107  |  (651) 773-0473
info@senior-recovery.org