Monday, September 1, 2008

Courage, my brother!


Today we said au-revoir to my brother, Dominic - a fine uncle.

He started his final leg of rehab from alcohol abuse at a swanky clinic, that is picky about who they admit. He has been clean for months now, but he still had to submit to daily sobriety tests at his social worker's office each day - and he's had not a sip of alcohol in all of it. I'm proud of his strength and his own personal sense of dignity in an environment that seems short on praise.

We celebrated with the long run around the lake and we had lots of time to talk about the past and the future. We were both glad that we got 2 weeks to spend together, it was a blessing to us.
One thing he said will stay with me for a long time: "My next bottle of beer is waiting at the store. I have to choose every day to not go and buy it." It's something he's heard in AA - still it sums up most legal addictions to a neat point.

For now he gets to learn to live with his addiction at this beautiful rehab clinic (complete with a petting zoo, free bikes for rides to town, a resident cheerful cat and many happy faces and encouraging activities). I pray it all works out for him. I so pray it will.

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