RECOVERY STORY OF THE MONTH

Hello, my name is Tyler, and my sobriety date is March 8th, 2024. I grew up in the same way you see most feel-good childhood movies. With two loving parents, brother, sister, and a very active and healthy environment that a growing boy needs to be a good person in this life. I played baseball, football, basketball, and even soccer from a very young age, teaching me what teamwork means and how it applies to everyday life. Around the time I got to high school, things started to take a turn for the worst when my mom and dad decided to get a divorce.

Being 15, the oldest sibling by seven years, and caught right in the middle of a not so great divorce, did exactly what you would expect it would emotionally. I did everything I could to remove myself and run from any situation that made me feel awkward. Which lead me to not be home as much as possible, trying to fit in with any crowd, and that usually meant drinking to drown out the noise in my mind. Fast forward to my senior year, in my running away mentality, I decided to join the army. My report date was two whole weeks after receiving my high school diploma.

I served as a 13F, also known as a forward observer, for six long years and two longer deployments to Afghanistan.

I served as a 13F, also known as a forward observer, for six long years and two longer deployments to Afghanistan. Being in the military taught me a plethora of skills: how to take the life of another, how to lead men into battle; and in everyday life, how to expect the worst and hope for the best, time management, standard of cleanliness, delegation of duties, the list goes on and on. It also taught me how to be a functional drunk. See EVERYONE in the military drinks excessively. It’s a right of passage for most units, and with it being a very normal thing to drink till the wee hours of the morning, getting two hours of sleep, then running six miles before breakfast.

When my time in the Army ended, I returned home to Cleveland with little more than hopes and dreams of a more peaceful and carefree life. I started school at the university of Akron, got a job doing security at the Hard Rock casino in my hometown of Northfield. I started dating a close friend, and life was good for the first six months. Until my unchecked alcoholism and depression started affecting my ability to worry about anything but going out at night and having a good time.

When my first semester ende, so did that relationship. With that running mentality, I fled my emotional awkwardness to Fort Myers, Florida, where I lived for about five years. It was endless fun in the sun, where drinking all day and all night was a standard practice, and I fit right in. It was in my fourth year of living there that I was introduced to another form of alcohol, the form that would end up being my downfall. Another year, and another failed relationship later, I found myself driving back up to Cleveland.

… drinking all day and all night was a standard practice, and I fit right in.

To keep a long story short, that different form of alcohol followed me back to Cleveland, completely taking over every aspect of my life. Destroying my relationships with my family, my friends, and anybody who genuinely cared for my well being. I stole, became homeless, and ran around the streets of East Cleveland until I was informed of a way out, a way that I really had no idea existed. The rooms of the Ed Keating center and alcoholics anonymous.

My first stint in recovery started because of a girl. I didn’t truly want to be completely sober, but I still gave it an honest effort. And as you might expect it didn’t take root, relapsing just six months after starting the program. There is a statement in AA that goes, “Relapse is a part of recovery.” Today I am here to say that personally, that is absolutely true. You see, in March of 2024 I wanted to get sober for myself. I had hit a low enough point in my life to want to really change. The price of progress is pain, and I have had enough of it in my life that I was ready to confront my demons. So I got busy, I got a home group, and I became active in it every week. I dug deeper and sat with the pain and the trauma, and I learned how to deal with it in a healthy way. I became a true member of this program, and I will forever be grateful for the men and women in this Center for helping me realize my potential and the good I can contribute to this world!