By: Marc McMahon

Good Morning everyone, wait, let’s re-phrase that. You know I always refer to folks on my other media accounts as family but here I call you all everyone and that I think needs to change today. With that being said then good morning Family I am so excited to share with you all today what has been going on this past year with my recovery and the totally awesome milestone that is quickly approaching my sobriety.

You see my friends today I have 310 consecutive days of sobriety that’s almost a darn year. That is almost my first year clean and sober that I did on my own with just God, mine, and all your help and support. No AA this time, no inpatient or I.O.P. treatment to go to daily to occupy my time and give me what is called sobriety but it is done in such a protected tucked away from the real world way that I used to almost always relapse shortly after left to deal with life on life’s terms by myself. But, not this time. This time was, is, and is going to continue to be different than all previous attempts.

Why Is It Different

Because short of simply stopping using, and attending half an AA meeting every few months I have just simply quit using and have not picked back up. It is almost like I never stood a shot at staying clean all the previous attempts for one simple reason it seems. It was not my time yet, that is all I can figure. I know that turning almost fifty has probably been a factor as maybe I have finally grown up a little. Lol, that would make my moms so happy!! And guess what, she is very happy right now.

The relationship recovery has given me with my Mother is nothing short of miraculous in my book, let me explain. You see my mom and I have had let’s just say a complicated relationship over the years due to my drug abuse mainly. I mean parents are never perfect but my moms lack of perfection at her task was nothing compared to the lack of perfection I possessed as a son. My mom hung tough over the years with me. She held on longer than most would I think that is for damn sure.

Some of the things I have said to her over the years which many my mind won’t recall but she remembers vividly were horrible and that is putting it mildly. She told me I threatened to kill her and that I hated her when she came to visit my sorry MRSA infected ass at the hospital where I damn near died twice. I had no idea, I asked her why she never came to see me there and that’s when she told me that but I must have blocked it out. I felt so bad because all I wanted was to see her I remember that clearly and for me to say that when she did show blows my mind but I know she would not lie and it was par for how I was at the time, unpredictable!

Enter First Year Miracles

I said all that to give you all some background because things were shaky, we even went a couple years where we did not talk recently, but. All that has changed this past year, especially this past 6 months. The relationship I have with my mom today is as good if not better than it has ever been I think. I believe that to be true with my stepfather as well but for very different reasons. (That’s a whole other article.)

I love my mom today with all my heart and I have not really felt like this ever before in my life about her I think. I mean I always loved my mom dearly don’t get me wrong here at all. But this love I have for her today transcends all boundaries, it wipes away past mistakes, it does not look for fault, it does not judge. It simply loves. It understands and its a form of Agape love if you know what that is if not google it, pretty awesome to feel. Just pure love for the one who brought me here and taught me most of what I know. Both the good and the foundation for some bad but in the end, it’s all good.

With that being said, I think this article at this point is just about all good too. No need to go on I think you all get my point. A year clean can change everything for the better, even mend relationships you never thought you could completely mend. A miracle I am, you are, and my mom is! Stay blessed you all I love you!

About the Author: Marc is a 48-year-old Author, Speaker, and Soldier in a war to loosen the grasp that Substance Abuse has on our society. He is a Father, Son, and friend to all those seeking refuge from this incorrigible disease. Marc resides in the beautiful Pacific Northwest where he enjoys, writing, hiking, and kicking the disease of addiction in the teeth, every chance he gets. As Marc always likes to say, “be blessed, my friends!”