Home Living Room A Unique Celebration
A Unique Celebration
Monday, 18 May 2009
On Saturday, my family and close friends gathered at Camp Haze to celebrate the 20th anniversary of my dad's sobriety. It was a unique and emotional milestone to celebrate.

It's not necessary to go into the details of dad's alcoholism. However, a big part of the story involves five separate stints in 28-day treatment centers, a bleeding ulcer and dangerously high blood pressure that signaled dad's days were quickly coming to an end. I didn't know it at the time, but he had decided to move to Colorado to work as a horse wrangler and continue drinking until he died.

On May 16, 1989, before he could leave for Colorado, dad was admitted to Selma Community Hospital after vomiting blood. It was there that he met Dr. Sean Schafer. That meeting with Dr. Schafer changed everything. It wasn't that Dr. Schafer told him anything different than any of the other doctors or counselors who treated him. There was just something about Dr. Schafer that got through to dad.

If you read back through the last few years of Living the Budget Savvy Life entries, my dad comes up often. He is one of those people that makes you feel like a better person for knowing him. Because of Dr. Schaefer, I have had 20 years with my dad that I never expected to have and I am looking forward to the next 20.

The biggest lesson for me is knowing that one person's kindness so positively influenced (and extended) another man's life which trickled down and affected all those who love and care for him. Kindness and caring are positive prescriptions no matter what the malady.

Thank you Dr. Schaefer.
Comments (0)
Write comment
Your Contact Details:
Comment:
[b] [i] [u] [url] [quote] [code] [img]   
:D:angry::angry-red::evil::idea::love::x:no-comments::ooo::pirate::?::(
:sleep::););)):0
Security
Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.
< Prev   Next >
 

[+]
  • narrow screen resolution
  • wide screen resolution
  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
  • fresh color
  • warm color