I was introduced to drugs (Weed) when i was 7 and that started a long journey of trying most drugs and alcohol always to change the way I felt and change reality. My parents moved me away from Pasadena, Texas to a little town called Santa Fe, Texas. They were in search of a way to provide a better life for the family and to get me away from the drugs and alcohol in the city. In Santa Fe, i found an abundance of alcohol with a little drugs spread in here and there. I only graduated High School because the assistant principal was tired of dealing with me. I went to college but blew that off with the using and drinking so I quit and joined the ARMY. While i was in the ARMY my drinking got really bad and I say thankfully i got hurt and got out honorably before the drinking caused me to get booted. Once back in civilian life, i met my wife in 1994 and we were married in 95. I stayed sober for a little over a year before i fell off the wagon. I continued to drink and try to stop for several years till in 2002 I was fighting the cops again in a blackout when i turned and saw all four of my kids crying watching me. I snapped out of it and asked the police to arrest me behind the store and they sent me home with my brother in law saying that i needed help. that next day I went to the 12 step program one more time and that became my sobriety date 1-20-02 which by my math is almost 24 years. I have now become a minister and share the word and i am also a Chaplain for two police departments instead of fighting them. Life today is still life with ups and downs and I still go to meetings but I rely on God to really pull me through all the ups and downs.