Welcome to the Team!

ARC welcomes Emily Davis as the new office manager. Emily is from Douglas, Georgia. She battled addiction for 17 years before moving to Gainesville and beginning her recovery journey in 2015. Emily has two children. She says she is grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of ARC, and we are grateful to have her skills and knowledge!

ANONYMOUS SUPERSTAR

The Anonymous Superstar this month came to ARC in April 2017. He went through inpatient treatment at Advantage prior to coming to ARC and he is coming up on 18 months of sobriety next month! 17 months ago, our Superstar was drinking at least a gallon of liquor each day. Today, and for the past 500 or so days, he hasn’t had even a drop of liquor. For his sobriety, he credits his time and treatment at ARC, his inpatient treatment at Advantage, the connections he’s made in the recovery community, and not least of all, the spiritual awakening he had while locked up in jail.

Our Superstar said he was awake all night one night while he was in jail and he said he realized that he had no idea who he was. He said the thought obsessively kept running through his mind: “Find out who you really are and put who you’ve been behind you.” He said he couldn’t get that thought to leave his mind. What happened from there, he believes, was nothing short of an eye-opening, transforming spiritual awakening. He said he admitted his powerlessness over his addiction and asked his Higher Power to help him. He felt inspired to take a moral inventory of himself and his life, and then he shared that with his Higher Power. In essence, he “worked” the first 5 of the Twelve Steps while in jail, without even knowing he was doing so. He hasn’t looked back since.

Once he graduates from ARC, he plans to work in the field of addiction and spend his life helping others find sobriety. To that end, he has become a valuable mentor to other residents at ARC and is taking on more and more responsibilities in his residential mentor role. Our Superstar this month is a shining example of what transformation looks like. He is proof that change can and does happen. He is truly a walking miracle and we are grateful his path has led him here.

Soon after our residents get here, before they can advance from Stabilization to Phase One, they write a Goodbye Letter to their addiction. Each month we will share one of those letters with you.

Dear Addiction,

Let’s start at the beginning. I met you first when I was 16 and you’ve been hanging around in some form ever since. Whenever I was working my first job you were there almost every shift with me. When I met and married my wife you were with me. You were there every time we fought, and a lot of other times when we were hanging out. When my uncle, who was like my grandfather, died, you helped me to kill the pain. When work days were over we always hung out together. The day I came home and my wife had taken our girls to Florida with a guy she met on the internet, you were there. Hell, you were there with me when I walked in the house and read the goodbye email. Months later, you and I were together 24/7. When I drove through that roadblock and got that DUI, you were right there.

Skipping ahead, you were there and had been there when I met someone else I loved. This time, instead of hanging out with just me, you hung out with both of us. When she got pregnant, you didn’t hang around for a while. Then you would come back around when we would be having a lot of fun together. I didn’t notice how, when the rest of our kids were born, you weren’t around and my overall life didn’t seem so hectic and dire. But after the twins were born, a month or two later you were back. You were there when I lost my two best jobs. Then I lost my family. That same month, I got diagnosed with cancer. Through surgery, radiation, and chemo, you were there.

Both of my felony arrests, hell yeah, you were there 100%. But when I was in jail those last 6 months, you disappeared on me and my mind cleared while I was away from you for so long. I realized that without you, all my problems, all my chaos and insanity, my lost loves, lost jobs, the lost times with my kids was all because I let you keep hanging out with me almost constantly since I was 16 years old. So I’ve decided no more! To quote someone I’ve watched since I was 5 years old, Dr. Who, before he blew up Gallifey and the Dalek, “NO MORE.” No more addiction. I’ve found a better way to live now so goodbye Addiction.