I've been dealing with a few compounding issues this week. Last Wed I found out that two of my photographs are going to be featured in a visual art magazine published in New York. I was thrilled, and put the word out to all of my fam and friends. The next day I had 4 seizures--two petit mal and two grand mal--and was hospitalized for two days. Since then I have been home from work, learning about the ramifications that come from having a seizure--namely, I can't drive for a few months, my memory has been affected, and my doctors aren't exactly sure of what caused the seizures.
Aside from my own health, Monday night a dude from one of my suboxone groups relapsed. He relapsed on booze. After leaving the bar he went to Taco Bell drive thru, and tried to pay for his meal with his health care card. The taco bell employee called the cops, and as the dude was speeding away from the cops he drove down a one way street the wrong way, hit and killed a guy on a motorcycle. He is in jail without bail, (kicking suboxone) right now. They are charging him with 2nd degree murder.
The man he killed just got back from serving in Afghanistan a month ago. He was married and had a two year old baby. The story is all is all over the news. The media is making him out to be a monster; a low life drug addict. They are even labeling him a heroin addict in the press, right after they mention his profession was an EMT.
I've been in groups with this guy for a few months. He is sensitive, caring, and intelligent. He has a disease; the same disease that I do. And this disease took both his freedom and an innocent veteran, father, and husband's life. It is a tragedy on many levels, and hits home not only because I am familiar with the guy. His story reveals the truth hiding right beneath the surface of every waking moment--that I am one drink or drug away from losing all control, just like he did. His story also reminds me just how precious my 387 days of sobriety are.