LIFE STORIES
Maurise M: My Story
“I will be eternally grateful to Serenity House and Alcoholics Anonymous for giving me the tools which improved my life.”
February 10, 1976 was a miracle day for me. I was in a facility known as Serenity House in Memphis, Tennessee; a rehabilitation center for women and men suffering from alcoholism. I was a drunk: mentally, physically, and spiritually. Little did I know that this day was the new beginning of my life.
I decided to give up my will and different lives to the care of God. I came to believe in a Power greater than myself by shutting my mouth and listening, and I became teachable by implementing the information in Alcoholic Anonymous’ The Big Book, 12 and 12, and other daily manuals.
Serenity House gave me a chance to change my way of thinking, and to be honest about my illness and my feelings. By following the guidelines of AA, I learned to live my life and overcome my alcoholism one day at a time. I now know and accept a God of my understanding that works in all of my affairs, and I now follow His directions and instructions.
Today, I am 35 years sober and spend my days volunteering within the law enforcement and county government in Memphis. I volunteer with the local Shelby County Government, the City Courts, the City Council, the Voting Commission, Health Department, and the Justice Center Aftercare Program as a program facilitator.
I have a lot to be thankful for. By growing spiritually closer to God, I was able to overcome the life obstacle of alcoholism and become productive in my community. I have been able to tell my story and change so many lives for the better. I will be eternally grateful to Serenity House and Alcoholics Anonymous for giving me the tools which improved my life.
“Hi…My name is Ann P. and I am a recovering alcoholic.”
I am now 49 years old and have been sober for almost four years. My drinking and drugging began in high school– eventually spiraling out of control for the last ten years of my using. Although I drank heavily for many years, I eventually ended up smoking crack cocaine. I cannot begin to tell you the heartbreaking story of the effect my drug use had on my family. I had three young children – twins that were four years old – when I began using crack, and a newborn baby. The next ten years of their life were a nightmare. No children should ever have to live the way mine did during that time. I was in and out of jail and treatment centers. I spent all of my family’s money on drugs. They saw me get arrested several times. In the end I was put in drug court but still could not stay sober. My last chance before prison brought me to Serenity House (Serenity Recovery Centers) in December 2007.
This was the moment when my life began to change. I was sincere in my desire to stop using drugs, and threw myself whole-heartedly into Serenity. The structured schedule helped me to become disciplined in rising early, eating three proper meals a day, and going to bed at a decent time. The classes covered a wide variety of subjects – how to deal with triggers, relationships, how to repair the past, financial responsibility, introduction to the AA steps, and many more. I soon learned that the classes were so varied because my drug use had affected all these aspects of my life. The group sessions let me know that I wasn’t the only one messed up, as well as allowed me to get feedback from counselors and other women when I would discuss my personal issues. My private counselor time helped me work through some deeper issues that I could not have dealt with in a group setting. We had family visiting time each week that allowed me to try to rebuild some of those most precious relationships in my life. I was in a controlled setting and could work out my fears about all this after the family left.
One of the most important things was the endless stream of women who came to bring me hope while I was in Serenity. They brought AA meetings, Big Book studies, and advice on how to stay sober after we left Serenity. Serenity provided me a safe place to get a basis for sobriety and emphasized that I had to learn to live sober. They gave me hope for my future which I had all but given up on. I had this deep sense of doom that my life was never going to be O.K. The counselors and support staff, who were all in recovery, encouraged me to try the AA way of life.
I cannot put into words how my life has changed. I have rebuilt almost all of those relationships I thought I had ruined. My kids love me to death and I am a good mom. My husband’s relief is indescribable, and I am now a good wife. I am a productive member of society. I have had my pharmacy license reinstated and am working my way back into my profession.
God has entered my heart in a way that is miraculous and it all began at Serenity Recovery Centers.
“My Name is Amanda N., and I’m a Grateful Recovered Alcoholic.” (Sobriety Date 7/20/2001)
I remember the fear that gripped me as I tried helplessly to understand what was causing me to be a prisoner inside my own head.
On July 19, 2001, I took my last drink and surrendered the following day by entering Serenity Recovery Centers in Memphis, Tennessee. I didn’t even realize that I was surrendering. All I remember was that once again I was overwhelmed with feelings of utter despair and thoughts of killing myself. I have not picked up a drink since — and for that I am forever grateful for the unique and rare chance that only so few get to experience. By coming to Serenity and receiving experience, strength and hope from wonderful counselors, monitors, and AA volunteers.
My home group is Unity. We meet Monday and Thursday at 7 p.m. and Friday at noon. Unity home group members are strong no-nonsense ladies who are strict “Big Book Thumpers” who believe in the solution as outlined in the first 164 pages of the Big Book. These ladies were once just as helpless as Bill Wilson — and they have transformed their lives.
Raised in England, I’m the eldest of four children, to strict Irish Catholic parents. My relationship with my mother was strained, most often, and at school I was shy, quiet, and always had a “feeling” of never feeling comfortable with myself.
As I grew older that feeling changed to a vain obsession. By age 16 I had a serious eating disorder. I remember the fear that gripped me as I tried helplessly to understand what was causing me to be a prisoner inside my own head.
At 17, after my high school exams were complete, I picked up my first drink and to me this was the “magic” solution to all my problems. For the first time ever, I felt pretty, popular, at ease, and that wonderful feeling that life was good. Thinking that more was better, I became a party queen, and at first everyone wanted to be with me because I was so much fun.
Within a year or so as a junior in college, the immediate and indirect consequences of my alcoholism were just too much to bear — at age 19, who really is ready to admit defeat? I will never forget the time in a nightclub when all my friends turned and walked the other way when they saw me coming. I had become a liar, a cheat, and a bum — and the worse it got, the more I drank.
Meeting my husband at age 22 came many desperate attempts to control and quit. All of which led in time to still worse episodes. To follow were suicide attempts and “coming to” on hospital beds.
The time elapse between each major drinking episode became shorter until it eventually became one long binge. I stopped caring about anything -alcohol was the master. Getting fired from jobs became so normal that in the end it was a relief not to have one!
The occasional trip to our local church and foxhole prayers did not suffice. The one thing I hates besides myself was what I was doing to my husband.
Finally — lying on a wet floor of my apartment — bottles everywhere — I’d had enough. Picking up the phone I called many treatment centers repeatedly until I received the welcome sound of someone from Serenity Recovery Centers. The following day I packed a light bag and was escorted there by a friend.
What relief. I was ready to do anything these people told me to do. This time it worked because I had done exactly as I was told! Taking the advice of my counselor Debbye I signed up for long-term treatment and in doing so I found my sponsor — who is still my sponsor today.
Scared to death of leaving treatment, I kept close contact with my sponsor. We went through the 12 Steps together as outlined in the Big Book and 12 and 12. After which many of the promises came true. With that I found renewed self-confidence and the gift of being happy, joyous and free. I have had the privilege of working with sponsees but the greatest satisfaction of all is being asked to speak at Serenity — what better way to give back! Offering hope to where I myself recovered!
If I can get sober and live to serve purposefully and grateful — well anyone can! Don’t ever give up trudging the road!
