It’s a frightening city an alcoholic named Margie just stepped into. Temptation is just down the block, and death is around the corner. Mr. Jose Cuervo is standing out there with his pretty bottle, smiling. But Margie blocked that out. She wants that to be hers as she rejoins her family and hopes to restore life as it used to be. But then fear shadows the sunlight as she looks inward, into the window of her past. She sees the besotted life she’s trying to escape. Margie, today, is a person of great achievement who has earned our respect. She’s not had a drink for 12 months. Don’t laugh. Until one year ago, this woman was as bound to the bottle as any slaver’s chains could secure. She couldn’t not drink, though it almost killed her.
Alcohol addiction is probably as tough to escape as heroin or crystal meth, because booze is here, there and everywhere: at parties, at weddings, in the grocery store and in a kitchen cabinet. If you have the taste, it’s the nectar of the gods. Hospitable people offer it in a sweating, cold glass. It’s chic and advertised by beautiful people. There’s no fair in that fight. She will be 51 next week, but her prized re-birthday has become Aug. 27. That was the day she decided to live, and live cleanly and proudly. Her drinking increased radically to where she would jump at any opportunity off the job. Tequila was her great weakness, and she indulged it copiously. Somehow, she kept a reasonably level head and did her job, and thought no one knew.

She has come to think of rehab as her second home. Saturday was Margie’s first day back home with her husband and two grown sons. And that poses its own problems, because the family has learned to function without her. The kitchen, especially, has potential for conflict. Her husband became the cook, and now enjoys it. Her new role will have to be argued over, negotiated and finally compromised. But people who care can work that out. No matter how accepting her sons and husband are, it’s the home that is her most dangerous trap. In the past, family efforts to hide liquor were to no avail. She recently purchased one son a lock to secure his own liquor in his room.

Over the past year, Margie has grown in spirituality. Fifty-one may seem a little old to start over, but the right time for any troubled person to begin anew is today. But before we frown at this woman, remember that Mr. Cuervo has faced a lot of challengers like Margie, and he’s won at least as much as he’s lost. He’s got an iron grip, but Margie has already torn loose, so let’s urge her to stay free.

It’s unfortunately common for people to fall into an alcohol addiction to try and cope with their problems, butsubstance abuse is never the right way to go, and unfortunately sometimes people learn the hard way. But in order to recover, it’s extremely important to first become conscious of your problem, or make your loved one conscious of their problem, and then find that burning motivation to change the addictive ways. It can be very difficult for a drug addict or an alcoholic and their family to accomplish these things on their own, so that’s where Seabrook can help. Seabrook is an internationally recognized inpatient drug rehab andalcoholism detox treatment center with rehab facilities located in New Jersey (NJ) and Pennsylvania (PA). At Seabrook, we are committed to providing quality addiction treatment for the physical, emotional and spiritual illness of chemical dependency.