Sobriety.... One year later... Please Read.

You sir are a very brave Lad, Thank you for your service that is something only God can truly thank you for. Take care of yourself ! Stay strong always.

 

Turner,

No embarrassment nor shame associated with what you have said and done. You are braver than many who cannot face up to the day to day. Pray for those that cannot get out of the cycle.

Congratulations on your year plus. I'm rooting for you each and every day. Thanks for sharing.

PS. I'm working on my 30th year without self medication of any form. You can do the same my friend, one day at a time is all it takes.

 

Congrats and yes you are correct. It is one day at a time.

 

I'm glad to hear you got and are clean, not just for yourself but more so for your children. You have no idea how much better their life is with a sober father, you deal with alot of difficult shit at work and you have figured out not to make your children put up with it. I work in a pharmacy and see how prescription drugs affect people from more abuse, more hardcore drugs and a few, suicide which luckily I have not witnessed. Its tough to admit you have a problem and to stay clean. You know the danger of your job and possibly not never seeing your family because of it. If you ever feel the urge look at your daughter dont make her one of the people having to grow up without a father. I truly applaud you for being able to talk about it and seek help.

 

Glad to hear you are making good progress. I lost a friend to PTSD, and have another that has severe drug issues. Both were happy go lucky guys and were in the military. One couldn't take it anymore and overdosed on alcohol/pills as a coping technique and died, the other one I haven't heard from in a long time and hope he is alright.

The one who died I felt really bad for his family, because his dad was the first responder on the embarcadero collapse in the 1989 earthquake where he was trying to help people crushed by the collapsing freeway, who were stuck dying in their cars and vehicles, and he couldn't do anything to save them, and now he has buried his son.

Best wishes on continued success.

 

Thanks brother.

My best friend overdosed on 12/23/2011 because of PTSD and the stress he was under so I know very well the feeling of loss. I was extremely lucky in the end and was given a second chance. The screams are hard to get out of your head sometimes.

 

Thank you for letting me read a part of youyr life that is so had to say in the first place! Ive also come to terms I had PTSD by hitting rock bottom and also self medicating in 2010 following a deployment, I admire you for what you've done, take pride in yourself that you made it out of that dark place. Thank you for your selfless service and personal Intergrity! -Ross Greenzweig

 

hard*

 

Thank you Ross!

 

Thanks for the intro and the history. Glad to read that your Sober !
I have had to addressee my crap as well lately. Doing Police work and Fire work
suck when you stop and have to deal with all that the eyes have seen and the
ears have heard. Good thing we are still here to save someones ass.

 

For the sake of your wife and daughter, as well as yourself, I'm glad you were able to find the strength to pull yourself through, brother. I know you have your own people, but if you ever need another ear to twist, I'm here. Many thanks for your story. It will probably help more people than you will ever know.

 

Thanks brother! I appreciate it

 

This is truly the most inspirational post/messages I have read in a long time.

The fact that you changed for a positive and want to help others is what makes you a truly great person!!!

 

Thank you!

 

Truly sorry you had to experience that. It's amazing that you turned yourself around, not only for yourself but for you & your family. I can fully assure you that when your daughter is older and you tell her this story, she will be so thankful that you turned your life around and you're still in her life.

In a very weird way, this is an amazing & very inspiring story. I know it must have been hard to share that with complete strangers.

Thank you! And thank you for your service in the FD, even though you're not in my location I still appreciate it.

 

Thank you for the kind words!

I am very lucky that my daughter missed the worst of it but I will feel guilty for the time I missed with her for those few years forever. That in itself keeps me focused.

 

Just read your thread and passed it along to 4 of my brothers I was deployed with that have had some trouble with things we saw and did. Some it happened to right away and one just recently "snapped".... he has been out of the Corps for over a year. The brain works in funny ways. They are not Tacoma owners or TacomaWorld members but your story is inspiring and I wanted them to read a success story. Thank you and best of luck in the New Year.

 

PM'd

 

Congratulations on your Sobriety.

Thanks for sharing and putting it out there. Best way to share the load is getting it out. I am a new member but just read the entire thread. Not hard to see it's helped many.

We do Wildland fire and a ton of prescribed fire. Being in a helicopter it is a bit more detached than what you structure/rescue guys do. We see a lot of property loss, and damage but it's not the same thing. We do the occasional search and rescue however, last guy I looked for we found under a log in the river.

As another friend of Bill W's I still wish more folks had a place to dump their crap and celebrate the little victories.

Keep it up!

Phil
10/10/97

 

Thank you Phil!