Believe it or not, my wake-up call didn’t come when I was 3 ½ months in the hospital (with 2 ½ weeks spent in medically induced coma), due to my poor health from years of drinking. I was still in denial and believed that my problem wasn’t that bad. It was only until some months afterwards when I was hitting the drugs pretty hard that I finally saw where my life was going and said to myself ‘I can’t do this anymore’.

It was time to come clean, ask for help and reach out to my sons. They both took me to my first ever AA meeting and it was there that I began to get some insight into my problem. From there they suggested Tamarack, which they’d heard about through the website, and they called Sherry [Tamarack’s Intake Specialist] to talk about my situation and find out
about the program.

Sherry met with all of us and then with me by myself, helping me to draw up a plan and encouraging me and my sons to work together so we could get me through the next few days before moving in. I met with Sherry a couple times in that period to check in. It wasn’t easy waiting for those few days to pass but I got more familiar with the house and the staff and I felt like everything would be ok.

Once in the program I started doing the hard work on myself and realizing my part in the way that my life had gone. I was always blaming other people and had to start dealing with those resentments. Things opened up for me when I started trusting people and I began to ask for help and reach out when I had a problem. I had to learn to live sober, to cope without drinking, basically a new way of life.

Tamarack helped me get connected with safe housing for when I graduated. I’m in sober living accommodation now and I feel supported.

I’m very happy I took the route that I did by coming to Tamarack. It worked out great. Now me and my sons are all on the same playing field. It’s actually a funny coincidence because tonight I’ll be taking my six month chip at AA. I’ve been totally clean for six months. And one of my sons who helped me start my recovery journey will be there to celebrate with me.