RECOVERY MILESTONES
We asked these clean and sober folks with different lengths of recovery time what it’s like to recently reach another big clean and sober milestone.
BY PAULO MURILLO
A MIRACLE
“It’s a miracle. It’s amazing for someone who had no plan on long term sobriety. My life was getting better, so I stuck around. It’s been a great solution for me, being sober and working a program. I’m grateful for my life. Twelve and a half years ago, I was this homeless guy with no hopes or dreams. All I wanted to do was die. This past year has been super challenging. I went home to help my parent in the pandemic for eight months. I was an amends for all the hell I put them through. I was able to take care of my mother. There was a moment when we thought my mother was going to pass. The priest came. We were all crying. She said if this it, she was happy knowing that all of her sons were taken care of and in a good place. She no longer had to worry about me. That was the biggest reward of sobriety. I’ve been able to accomplish so much and help other people in our community. I got my Master’s Degree. I just got a promotion, so now I’m a manager at the LA LGBT Center. Now I’m working towards getting my Doctoral Degree in policy, so I can help more people. It’s been a wild ride, one I wouldn’t change for anything in the world.”
—Robert Gamboa, sober since November 28, 2009
THE FOUNDATION
“When I look back 25 years ago, my alcoholic brain tells me it was a very glamorous thing. There was champagne and cocaine and hot boys and fast music, but those were short moments of time. Towards the end, it was pretty awful. I was vomiting and pissing my pants. I had a cloudy head and insufferable hangovers. It was such misery. I vowed, I’d never do this again, and then I would. I finally reached the point where I said that simple three word prayer, ‘God help me.’ I had been to 12-step meetings before, but this time I was desperate. I’ve had three great sponsors these 25 years. I did what they did. I went to meetings, I took commitments, and I worked the 12 Steps. I said yes, even when I wanted to say no. And doing those things I laid the foundation for what I think is a legacy of work that would have not been possible without me getting sober… I’ve been given the gift of sobriety and it has made all the difference.”
—John Duran, sober since November 6, 1996.
PROPELS ME
“33 is such an odd number. I feel like I have so much more to learn. It’s the same curiosity that I had in my first 30 days. It propels me to continue doing the work and to stay active. People who have my amount of time sometimes drift away or they get crunchy. I still go to 5 or 6 meetings a week. I have service commitments, I sponsor 12 guys and do step work, so there’s so much to learn here. I have all this time because of service commitments. I’m a relapser. I was in and out for five years. I treated my alcoholism with crystal meth and I didn’t know if my willingness would provide long term sobriety. I got sober during the AIDS epidemic when everyone was waiting their turn to see who was going to die next. I’m still. I have so many blessings in my life, from hooker, to chorus boy, to doing casting for the last 15 years, to a doing a documentary being touted by Octavia Spencer, this is so crazy. Recovery is possible and I’m having a good time here.”
—Jeffrey Drew, sober since November 13, 1988.
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