I swear the sweltering desert heat sobered me up 17 years ago as much as the program at the renowned Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage. I arrived there 17 years ago today and sweated every ounce of alcohol out of my system over the next 30 days. Why didn’t someone tell me you go to the desert for substance abuse treatment in the winter, and not during scorching hot summers?
I am holed up during the current heat wave across Northern California even though the temperatures pale in comparison to the desert. Still, my memories of the first steps in sobriety at Betty Ford stir deep feelings of gratitude. It was life changing. I spent 30 days with men, many of them half my age but all coming to terms with alcoholism. It was especially difficult for those of us who were binge drinkers, high functioning alcoholics who managed to hold onto their families, careers and community lives. We never considered ourselves boozers, wife beaters, or substance abusers. We did not knock back a bottle every day, nor were we hiding the stuff in the toolbox out in the garage. Well, maybe not until the end, anyway.
I have learned, thanks to Betty Ford and others, that there is a fine line between those of us who maintain the façade of respectability, and the down and out who sleep in the streets and struggled every day to find that “fix.”
I remain grateful to my former employer The Press Democrat/New York Times Co. for providing a medical insurance plan that mostly covered the cost of Betty Ford. It isn’t cheap, folks. In fact, substance abuse programs offered at Betty Ford and others are too costly for many people suffering from alcoholism and drug abuse. It is a national problem.
The Betty Ford Clinic gave me the jump start I needed to find sobriety. It introduced me to a substance abuse recovery program with AA at its core. When I came home, the real work began.
Program friends – you know who you are – have walked with me for 17 years. I could not have reached this milestone without you. Family, friends, and my community have had my back.
I am especially grateful for the incredible support of Terese, and my sons Nate, Luke, Pete, and Sam. Our daughters Tarita, Katy, Christine, and Sara share in the family support system. Because of all of them, I am still walking the path. Their love, and forgiveness, means everything to me.
I am blessed that my three grandsons Giannie, Frankie and Julian have never seen me falling drunk as others have. I believe they never will, although it will only be true if I continue to live one day at a time.
Lastly, I want to pay homage to Betty Ford, a woman of courage. With the support of her husband former President Gerald Ford and their family, Betty Ford in 1982 founded the then innovative Rancho Mirage treatment clinic after publicly acknowledging her own battle with alcoholism and drug abuse.
Betty Ford also fought breast cancer and spoke openly about her challenges. She was a leading advocate of AIDS treatments, and women’s equality.
Betty Ford offered hope and helped change people’s lives, including mine.
My heartfelt thanks.
(Mike Geniella)
When it comes to being sober it is a case of “Horses and water”. Good for you! It’s very hard. My best friend made it at St Helena 30+ years ago.
Thank you for this inspirational read. Much appreciated!
You have a broad public base that appreciates the sober you and how you give to your community. Thank you for your strength and wisdom.
Congratulations, Mike, both for your sobriety and for the clarity of purpose and execution it has given to your writing. At least in my humble opinion, the best work of your life has come in recent years.
Congratulations on your sobriety. I, too, had trouble with alcohol when my kids were very young. My father killed himself in a car wreck behind the booze. The wreck should have killed me, but I got lucky that day. I was 11.
I quit drinking in 1982, the year after I quit smoking. For me, getting off alcohol was easier after getting off of tobacco. The perfect drug, I called it.
But as Mark Twain allegedly said, ” It’s easy to quit smoking. I’ve done it a thousand times.”
Be well, and hang in there.
Laz