chapter 13

Mike called that evening.  "I'm feeling all right now, I'm sorry for what I put you through.  I wish I could be normal"  He stammered. 

     He told me a little about the place, he had a hospital bed, slippers, pajamas.  They had him on that drug called bromocriptine.  Mike called Sunday evening, the difference in his mood amazed me.  "Mom," he shouted happily, "I'm out of cigarettes, can you bring me a pack?"

     "Will they let me?"  I asked.

      "Just give them to the guard, he'll bring them to me. 

     I feel much better, we've had meetings all day long, AA, NA, you name it."  He replied cheerfully.

     "Are they sending you to the Rehabilitation program soon."  I inquired.

     "No, I have to come here every day from 8 a.m. till 2 p.m. for 28 days then I go to Rehab, where I'll live for another 28 days."  He answered reluctantly.

     I didn't understand why they would let him out after only 3 days of Detox, I thought surely they would keep him for at least a month.

     I took the cigarettes to the guard, and saw Mike through the window, he looked good.  I really liked life when he was clean. 

     On Monday they were supposed to go to an outside meeting at a Baptist church.  They all piled into the bus and were taken over there.

     The phone rang at 3 p.m. that afternoon.  "Come and get me."

Mike stated.

     "Why?" I stammered, "Where, when.  What are you talking about?"

     "I got released, so come and get me.  I'm at the church, they released me this morning and said I could leave after the meeting."  He said again.

     After getting directions, Amy and I went to pick him up.  I was, to say the least, apprehensive.

     Every morning Monday through Friday I would take him back there for day treatment, on Saturday and Sunday he was required to attend a meeting and have his paper signed by the person heading the meeting.  He was doing very well. 

     It was at the Baptist Church meeting one day Mike received a spiritual awakening.  "I've been saved!"  Mike boomed, "I felt the warmth of Jesus, it just went through me, I felt all warm and woozy, I've been saved!!"  He boomed again. 

      He rolled the window down and announced to the world that he had been saved!  He wanted to go to Church with me!  Miracles do happen!  And every Sunday he felt as if the Priest was talking to him, it was incredible, and I was in Heaven.

                              * * *

     Then the day came for him to go to Rehab.  He packed his bags according to the list they had given him.  He had to be transported there by Detox.  I would be allowed to visit him on Tuesday and Sunday.  Every Tuesday there was an Al-Anon meeting before visitation, it was a pre-requisite for visitation.  These meetings were very informative.  On Sunday we could bring food, and stay for 3 hours.

     "I'll show you my schedule, we have something to do at all times, meetings, meditations, etc.  I have to get up early and set up the kitchen for breakfast."  Mike said eagerly. 

     "Is the treatment working?" I asked.

     "The treatment is me, I have to want to quit, and I do desperately want to get this Monkey off my back."  He responded.

"We go to the park on the week-ends and play volley-ball."  He continued, "we're not even allowed to look at the girls, let alone talk to them, we have to take this time to concentrate on our recovery."  He finished.

     He had a counselor there, who told him to quit worrying about the Chemical Imbalance that runs rampant through his family.  His counselor made him aware of the statistics on drug addicts, only one in three would make it!  I prayed Mike would be the "one". 

     He had close friends now to help him stay clean.  I could actually see the light at the end of this long dark tunnel!

                             * * *

     Meantime, back at the ranch, his father had bought a bar.  He wasn't aware at the time, that this would not be conducive to Mike's recovery!  It wasn't enough to have a very successful Transport company.  He had to go and buy a bar.  He was bored with life and thought this would be a new challenge.

     "While the transport company was a family business, one where we could all work together towards a common goal.  The bar, definitely was not.  No children were allowed, it was too rough, Mike definitely should never even have walked into the place.  Drinking, we found, only made it impossible to resist the urge for the drug of choice.

     However, in August 1996 Mike "graduated" and was released from Rehab.