For a long time, alcohol was the backdrop of my life.
I grew up and spent much of my adult life in environments where binge drinking wasn’t just accepted—it was normal. From college parties to time with family and friends, and especially during my years in the Marine Corps, drinking heavily was simply what we did.
But what felt normal was slowly becoming destructive.
My drinking began affecting nearly every part of my life. I was arrested multiple times in multiple states for alcohol-related incidents and eventually received three DWI convictions. I spent numerous nights in jail, including 30 days in the Jones County Jail in Anson, Texas, in 2003.
Still, I kept drinking.
Eventually, I hit a wall I could no longer ignore.
After my third DWI arrest, I was facing two felony charges along with several misdemeanors. Suddenly, I was looking at the very real possibility of losing my freedom and destroying my future.
More importantly, I realized what alcohol was costing my family.
I had a choice to make: alcohol or my family.
I chose my family.
On February 23, 2022, I stopped drinking.
Turning my life around didn’t happen overnight. The beginning was slow and difficult, and recovery required me to keep making that choice again and again.
Almost a year later, in 2023, I entered the Alaska Veterans Therapeutic Court program. That experience changed my life. It gave me structure, accountability, and practical tools to confront my relationship with alcohol and begin building a different future.
In October 2024, I successfully graduated from the program. Through that process and the work I put into my recovery, the two felony charges I had been facing were reduced, leaving a single misdemeanor DWI on my record.
But recovery didn’t end when I graduated from therapeutic court.
Today, I have been alcohol-free for more than four years, and I still consider myself actively in recovery every day.
Therapeutic court taught me how to take the tools I learned under intense pressure and use them in everyday life—in my routines, my relationships, and my mental health. Recovery has also given me perspective. I can look back at where I was and recognize just how far I have come.
I also know I never want to go back.
Each day, I make the choice to honor my family, myself, and the people who have supported me along the way. Not drinking has allowed me to become a better person and to show up more fully as a father, friend, husband, brother, and son.
I’m grateful for the people in my life who can see that difference, too.
Choosing not to drink was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. So many good things began happening when I made that choice and kept making it.
And if there is one thing I hope someone takes from my story, it is this:
No matter how many states you’ve been arrested in, how many mistakes you’ve made, or how deep the hole seems, you can still choose to turn your life around.
For me, that choice began with putting down alcohol – and choosing the life and people I didn’t want to lose.