“Bridge House saved my life!”
My name is Seth B. and I have a sobriety date of 12/28/09. I will forever be grateful for that. My life before Bridge House was wild and crazy. I started drinking around 16 years old drinking occasionally having fun with friends and being a rebellious teenager. Drinking on the weekends and having fun with friends. But my idea of fun was always different. I always drank more that my other friends and thought I could just “hold my liquor”. What I didn’t realize was it was the beginning of a budding drinking addiction which was followed up by the use of drugs as well. Things weren’t too bad, and I was managing to get by holding jobs and staying out of trouble for the most part. Life wasn’t too bad, and things were fun. In 2009 my mom committed suicide. I was 19 years old and that was a rough time, throwing my life into a crazy spiral of emotions and bad decisions. I turned to drugs and alcohol to drown my emotions and feelings which turned my addiction into a full-grown monster! It took over my life getting me arrested a number of times from Minor in possession of alcohol to commercial burglary!!!!! Like I said things got A little crazy.
So, it’s safe to say through my addiction I burned many bridges and hurt many people around me by my actions and life choices. The biggest thing that got to me is the family members who were close to me and loved and trusted me ended up not even wanting me around. That hurt me a lot. I’ve always said “family first” family is very important to me and knowing I hurt them so bad devastated me. Alcoholism runs really strong in my family and I’m grateful my dad had a few years sober in Alcoholics Anonymous when I decided to make that change for myself as well. I finally decided it was time to try to change after I got arrested for driving without a license, DUI and hit and run. I ended up blowing a .24 on the breathalyzer witch in California is .08! I had turns 21 in June and decided quitting in December. My dad told me I should check out a place and this new way of life…. I had, had enough or just enough to have the will and want for change and a better life.
I live in southern California and had never stepped foot in Louisiana before getting on a plane and coming to Bridge House. I will say this today and will always say this BRIDGE HOUSE SAVED MY LIFE!!!! I walked into Bridge House at the age of 21. I was scared, young, sober and full of emotions in a foreign state to me and was to live in a house with 83 other men for ONE WHOLE YEAR!!! I was scared out of my mind. I wasn’t the model resident at first either getting kicked out only to come back to open loving arms. I quickly wizened up and started to listen and truly change my point of view and my toxic way of thinking.
Bridge House is responsible for teaching me how to be a man and live like a productive member of society. Today I’m now 30 years old and have a wonderful life. I mean sure life is still life and at times it throws me curveballs, but I now know how to handle them productively. I have a wonderful wife I have a steady job, I have a beautiful home and a reliable car and even an old one for fun! Those things are all fun and good but what I’m truly grateful for today is not the “things” that I have, it’s the life I live today. I’m grateful for my sobriety my family back in my life who love me whole heartedly, food in my belly and a roof over my head. I owe my life and who I am today to the wonderful loving and caring staff at Bridge House.
I am forever grateful for my experience and the year I spent there. I wouldn’t change it for the world!!!!!!!