Nine Years of Sobriety

The First Day On Rehab Clinic

I started what I thought would be easy but developed into now nine-year beautiful journey.

Photo by Papaioannou Kostas on Unsplash

I have been an alcoholic for years. I had a company to run, many people to feed with their families. Stress was unbearable for me.

It was Thursday. My then sister-in-law went with me. We were like a sister and a brother. I was not sure that I would turn away. She was not sure, either.

I entered insecurely. I saw thirty-something people there already on treatment. We were separated into two groups, sitting opposite each other — almost twenty people on every side. In between, there were a few chairs and a desk.

Lady in white entered strictly at 06:30 AM. All stood up and set back on her mark. “Like in the school, I was thinking” at that moment. A moment after, a man in white entered. Get up, and sit down. On every other occasion, that is funny. It was not. I was scared, hopeless, and miserable. I am here to stop drinking but I wonder if I can function or live without a daily dose.

Lady in one is yelling my name. I am standing. She asks, not kindly, to join her and the man in white. I am walking toward them, not knowing what is going on. “Sit here, between us; tell us who you are and…