George told me that he would start going to AA if I went with him last night. I was shocked and told him I would be glad to help him out. We will go every night starting tonight. He had been to the doctor the other day about abdominal pains and the physician had warned him that he was on the verge of getting cirrhosis of the liver. If he quits now that some of the damage to his liver can be reversed and healed.
“Do you think you can quit on your own without rehab?” I asked him.
“I ain’t got enough money to afford a rehab,” George replied.
I got online and found a faith based program down in Columbus, Georgia that lasted from six to nine months and it was funded by charities. I printed out the webpage and handed it to George. The first line he read out loud was, “The purpose of the Valley Rescue Mission is to exalt the name of the Lord Jesus Christ through spiritual, educational, and charitable means directed toward those in spiritual and economic need.” All these damn programs are faith based and that immediately turned George off to it. I would hate to think what a chronically alcoholic Hindu or Muslim would have to do to get help around here is this Podunk southern area of the country.
“I don’t know if all that Jesus speak is going to get me sober,” George said looking disheartened.
“You have got to do something though,” I replied. “I have never seen someone able to drink as much as you do and I was pretty bad drunk during my homeless days.”
“Would you go through the program with me?” George then pleaded.
I stood there and thought for a moment. That was a pretty tall order to ask of a friend; to give up six months of my life and put my new house on hold. I got on the phone and talked to a man about the program. Most of the people who go through the program are court ordered and the fellow on the other end seemed to imply that it was a very tough program to experience. I had mental images of being stuck in group-sleeping-dorm rooms and meeting halls with tough ex-cons for months on end eating bland prison like food.
“Let’s try AA for a few weeks and see how we both do,” I replied. “We need to get you a sponsor you can talk to right away.”
“I don’t think I can talk to some old white drunk about my problems,” George said.
“You talk to me about them all the time!” I replied as I laughed. “But I wouldn’t make a good sponsor as we drank together all the time. We will ask around though and find you a black sponsor near your age. And stay away from Ferret, dammit! He will cause you to get drunk!” I emphatically added.
I handed George my Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, which is basically like their bible, and a copy of The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. He assured me he was going to start reading them today. Will George get sober and stay sober? In my time, I’ve seen some pretty bad drunks come through AA and quit drinking. Hopefully, we can do the same for George and it will help me stay sober as well by helping a fellow alcoholic.
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