Next Thursday June 15th, I'll celebrate 35 years of being clean and sober. My addiction to alcohol, marijuana and in particular cocaine caused me to lose my 4 year college football scholarship after 2 years. It later caused me to be discharged from the United States Air Force although I maintain my veterans benefits. My addiction caused me to resign from the US post office before they fired me. I ended up homeless on the streets of Anchorage where I was a track star back in the day. The long term treatment center I ended up in with only the clothes on my back told me and the other clients there that smoked cocaine, that they didn't know how to treat individuals like us that Free Based Cocaine. They said we had a 100% relapse rate. Of the 52 clients in treatment at the time, we were told only 2 of us would be sober a year from now. As I stated in the beginning, June 15th will mark 35 years of my being not only sober but clean & sober. I was the sickest dopefiend I ever met. Through the grace of God, my family and some really caring people that kept it real with me, I'm nothing short of a walking miracle. There is much much more to my story but I hope these short words are inspirational to another person struggling with a substance abuse disorder. I use the term dopefiend only to describe myself because that's exactly what I was. I'll end with this. I'm pretty sure I'll make my 35 years of sobriety but I also know that if I ever forget where I came from or look down my nose at individuals still struggling with this national epidemic, I could lose it all in an instance. Keep it simple and take it one day at a time and you too can experience a life free of drugs and alcohol. No cocaine high could ever match the high of being in recovery. Recovery is not a spectator sport. God bless you all. Rongkeepingitreal