Do alcoholics ever hit bottom and then climb their way up into sobriety? Of course they do. But we never know who’ll be the lucky ones or what price they’ll pay along the way. Three hundred and fifty people a day find a bottom with no bounce – death. (Debra Jay)
Miss Edith, a little lady with a big drinking problem, showed no signs of slowing down even at eighty-seven. Of course, her daughter who lived nearby took care of her, or at least she tried. Somewhere, Edith met a group of homeless people and invited them to her house. In a matter of days her back yard had became a tent city. Her yard occupants ran extension cords from her house in order to operate their refrigerators and televisions. And yes, Edith was kind enough to allow her drinking buddies to attach a line to her cable, so they could watch television in their tents. This foolish little senior lived everyday under the influence of alcohol.
It didn’t take long for things to turn ugly. Edith gave one of her squatters a debit card and pen number so he could buy beer. This friend went on a spending spree and bought eighteen hundred dollars worth of stuff. A few weeks later the same thing happened again and another of her choice tenants spent nine hundred dollars before the family was able to cancel the card. Diane feared the worse and tried to talk with her mother but she would not listen. The police were called but Miss Edith refused to press charges.
It appeared as though this stubborn as a mule granny was going to allow the homeless leeches to empty her bank account. But finally, something dreadful happened. Edith had a 12 pack of beer in her refrigerator. A tenant came inside her house and took seven beers. He tried to play it smart and turn the package around, thinking that his host was too old and too drunk to notice. Not only did Edith notice, she exploded and called her daughter in a rage. Diane went over to help. Her mom was fuming over the loss of seven beers. Her son in law said, “Edith, why are you so upset about those beers, these thieves have stolen over two thousand dollars from you?” Edith snapped, “Money is one thing and beer is another, I want those people out of here!
Nationally renowned addiction specialist Debra Jay, a regular guest on the Talk Show Circuit writes, “Different drugs affect different body systems, but all erode the pre-frontal cortex, and recent research is showing us that this damage appears to be permanent.… For example, after one night of binge drinking it takes ten days for the brain to get back to normal levels of concentration and focus. If drinking or drug use continues regularly, the brain continues to erode and may not be able to recover.
“I do not understand my own behavior; I do not act as I mean to, but I do things that I hate. Though the will to do what is good is in me, the power to do it is not; the good thing that I want to do I never do. And the evil thing which I do not want—that is what I do. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me…? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Paul the Apostle).
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