Well it’s nice to meet, yet another reader interested in my blog. I do hope you are enjoying the materials and posts provided here.  As you can see my sobriety is at the top of my priority list. I wouldn’t be writing this today if I didn’t get sober in 2007.

Born in Northern California, I was brought up by two alcoholics.  My father was a Executive salesman for (not the defunct) Southern Pacific Railroad.  My mother was a Registered Nurse (RN) who spent many years at various nursing homes.  My only sister lives in Southern California with her husband and their three kids.

Life, as a child and  young adult was very rough.  Our family, as you can imagine, was very dysfunctional.  We appeared to be affluent family with no family issues at all.  Behind close doors, my perception was a scene out of Hellraiser.  But as I reflect on my upbringing, I no longer despise my family.  Quite the opposite.  I can’t mend fences with my mother and father who are deceased.  However, I can forge a better relationship with my surviving sister.

I was an active addict/alcoholic from the age of thirteen(13) to the age of thirty-six(36). Through all those years, I dug a hole of self-pity so far one day I almost acted on a thought – suicide. At the time, it was the one solution to all my problems. Then in 2007, a miracle happened.  Something I thought was so distant and unobtainable, I got sober.

My sobriety gave me a chance to rebuild my life from the ground up.  It wasn’t an easy process, nor will it ever be perfect.  As we say in the program, “We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.”  I obtained a degree in Computer Science Information Systems, a task I thought impossible in active addiction.  At one time, I was involved in the local recovery community professionally.  Recently, however, I received my Nursing Assistant Certification(CNA), a field that I despised growing up.  I’ve already mastered a plan to get my LPN, then RN license in the next five or six years.  Some refer to be as an Educational Energizer Bunny – I keep going and going and going.

I have kept a blog since 2002 though the use of a LiveJournal account.  But as technology changes, I need to change with it. Thus, this blog was created. As you can already see, I tend to talk/write lengthy posts.  I have a lot to say with the hope that ONE person may benefit from my experiences.  A majority of material will be on addiction and recovery, however there will be times where I need to “vent or rant”, thus you will learn another side of me. It was said in an episode of Game of Thrones, “Don’t disturb the Dragon.”  That is me, as I always reply, “I’m working on it . . .”  I also have other interests, such as genealogy, programming, computers in general, etc.  Religion, for me, is a private area that will not be discussed.  To many arguments and many friendships destroyed simply because we have a difference of opinion.  However, I do respect everyone’s opinion and hope that people comment as much as they can.

I hope you enjoy,

Mike K