My name is Al, I live in Houston, Texas, and I am grateful to be a Peer Specialist at You Are Accountable.

I have been sober from alcohol and other substances since December, 2001. I was in my 30s and things had been bad for a while but, as can be typical for alcoholics and addicts, I was oblivious to the extent of the unmanageability of my life for a good while. 

The evidence had been there pretty much from the very beginning. I “partied” in high school (along with everyone else who discovered beer at the football parties) and the first people to call me out were my peers - other drinking teen-agers. Other substances came into the picture and when they did, they stayed in the picture. The consequences grew at the same time drinking, marijuana, and cocaine grew in importance to me. 

I studied Music Education and the only thing I ever saw myself doing was teaching. I burned that career in my first year of teaching. I didn’t just get fired, I became unhirable.

Legal issues mounted and became more severe. It would appear that my life would become orderly and manageable and then it would crumble all the way down. I’d get a respectable job and seemed to show promise then a DUI or possession charge would crash the whole thing down to the ground. My first experience with treatment was court-ordered. This happened a few times. 

I was released from jail in December, 2001 and really had nowhere to go. One sibling who lived in NYC was willing to help me out so, after going to a bar and partying every kind of way that I could, I hopped on a bus bound for NYC. 

There was no plan -  but she looked up an AA meeting in her neighborhood for me to go to and I went. I had been to many before (court-ordered) so I knew the format. I really don’t know why I took to it the way I did, but I am grateful that I did. I assumed that I couldn’t relate to any New Yorker but I felt like I fit right in. What was shared with me were tools and how to use them in order to live a sober and purposeful life. It wasn’t hard but it also wasn’t easy. 

I lived in NYC for 20 years and remained sober the entire time. When the pandemic shut down my work, I had the opportunity to work in sober living and residential treatment. I then moved back to Texas to be near my family and I am so grateful to have an experience that I can share with those who want to embark on their own recovery journey.