Greg’s Recovery Story
“I never acknowledged the fact that I was an actual addict.”
For forty years, Greg struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. He began drinking at just 13 years old, with more harmful substances coming into the picture not long afterward. Substance use became a part of who he was, making it easy to disconnect and not fully realize the depth of his addiction.
“I sat in a place I called my tunnel vision. This is when I was completely, utterly emotionally destroyed and completely intoxicated. I couldn’t even think or go out and do anything until I get loaded to that first level, and then we’ll try to find that level as the day goes on.”
Those who have been there understand that sentiment. Even surviving cancer wasn’t enough to open his eyes to the reality of his substance abuse. Instead, that realization came from his daughter. He realized, after failing to connect with his family and breaking his daughter’s heart in the process, that he was at a crossroads: either get sober or lose everything.
“As a parent you’re supposed to protect your children. And I was there at every school meeting, tried to go to scout meetings. My kids were never, ever embarrassed of me. There wasn’t anything I could do but know I’ve got to be there, I have got to protect my children. And so that was my quest. I decided that the only way I was going to get through this was to go through the treatment. If I had to be forced to never pick up another drink or do another drug, then that’s exactly what I was going to do.”
“I knew there had to be a better way.”
Greg’s journey with us began at Harbor Village, a Miami treatment facility in the Niznik Behavioral Health family.
“This is one of the first times I was very honest about what was going on. The medical staff made me feel like I could be honest — like it’s okay. It’s at this point I realize, ‘you know what, I’m sick. It was a dark place, but it was a safe place.”
Following detox at Harbor Village, Greg continued his recovery journey with Golden Peak Recovery, where he put in the work to get back to himself.
“I knew I had to surround myself with beauty because there was just so much ugly, so much darkness in my life. I was looking for my spirit. I had to dig deep in my past. I had to see beauty, that’s where I started. But finding my spirit? That was definitely Golden Peak Recovery. That was 110 percent Golden Peak.”
“With my case manager, my therapist, and this medical staff – these amazing nurses – I dug deep. And slowly but surely as I was starting to heal I realized that I didn’t have anything to lose. So let’s dig deep and let’s think about the things in your life that lift your spirit, the things that made you smile. The things that you knew you made a spiritual connection with. What Golden Peak Recovery did was bring me back to the things that made me happy, the things that made me smile.”
Now, looking back on the person he was in active addiction and who he has become through recovery, Greg is humbled by the journey thus far and what lies ahead. He reminds others who may be in his position that it’s never too late to find hope.
“No matter what happens, you do not have to be alone. You are not alone. I didn’t give up. Hope found me. And with hope finding me I can tell you my faith definitely got stronger. I found faith in something. I had absolutely no idea the type of love that I’ve experienced. The type of love that I’ve been able to give and the type of love I’ve been able to receive. It’s a big handful of hope that grabs you and says ‘hey, guess what, I’m here!’ It is something that I want everybody suffering that’s on their hands and knees and doesn’t know where to go and has all this shame and guilt and can’t leave because of the kids — all the excuses that you’ve got, understand something: if you just step back, the hope will find you.”
