From the Ground Up: Veteran Shares How Sobriety Journey Provided New Purpose
The unit that was coming in before us was completely engulfed with flames. One guy we couldn't get out ended up burning alive.
Come to find out, it comes back up later, especially if you don't talk about it much.
My name is Kris. I was in the United States Army in the Indiana National Guard. I was 13 Romeo from 1997 until 2008.
I had never been out of Illinois before I went to basic training. Within the first two weeks I was there, we were in that transition phase of taking over for the outgoing unit. It rained, short-circuited the air conditioner, blew up the TV, short-circuited the TV, and then the whole tent caught on fire. So I lost everything, all my personal belongings that I took. Yeah, all of that went up in like three minutes.
There wasn't a lot to do on base that didn't involve bonding over alcohol. So getting out and then going to college and then that kind of culture is almost the same as a freshman or a sophomore in college. It's kind of numbing and it's almost like a haziness over your eyes. And then it turned into missing things or canceling things because I'd rather go hang out with my friends and drink than do things that were actually propelling me into the future.
Then it finally hit a point where I had had three car wrecks being in college, and that's actually what extended my college time. The second time that I got pulled over, it had hit a point where I was completely blacked out in the jail cell by myself, completely lost, didn't have anybody to turn to. So ever since then, it's been a process, but working towards staying and being sober.
The rehab did happen after my second one, because that's when it kind of all started coming to a head. I had to do it all for legal recourse and trying to get a lessened sentence and all the things. So I went and then I started listening to the stories and seeing the vulnerability and realizing it helps to talk it out. Then the constant support... But I've always had support from family, mom, dad, brother, sister, and there for me if I needed it. But a lot of it was me just not listening or wanting to hear it.
Then, the mindfulness stuff really helped too. Just calming everything down and connecting to the floor and making sure that you were present where you were at. Being able to talk about it and process it, it's been a huge help. I started making food for everybody I worked with at the bar, and they were like, "Oh man, this is awesome," and then that just kind of sparks the interest even more. Just being able to provide food, my nutrition, my family's nutrition, my community, doing my part as far as that goes, to bring the best to this world.
So we got a shrimp salad and I did some homemade croquettes, basically. Just little French bread, toasted in some olive oil. And then I did a mesclun mix, topped with tomatoes, carrots, Parmesan cheese, cucumbers, peppers, avocado, and then I topped it with the shrimp. Bon appetit.
