All in the Family: A Veteran’s Path to Sobriety and Rebirth
2-minute read
All in the Family: A Veteran’s Path to Sobriety and Rebirth
2-minute read
A painful divorce. A father’s tears. An unlikely adoption. Family moments and relationships have punctuated the ups and downs of Chuck’s mental health journey—through his Marine Corps service, his years-long addiction to methamphetamine, his treatment to find recovery, and the new life he fashioned for himself afterward.
While Chuck was serving in the Marine Corps as a postal clerk from 1988 to 1992, his mother died of cancer. Chuck was able to spend time with her in the last week of her life, but he didn’t get to spend much time mourning her passing. “The loss of her, it was huge,” he says.
Chuck experienced another family-related loss of sorts after he completed his military service. He got married, but he says that 9 months after the wedding, he discovered that his wife had been having an affair the entire time.
“We split up, and that led to smoking pot and doing meth, and then meth kind of just took over my life from there,” he says. Years of drug use left him jobless and homeless, with a criminal record.
Eventually, he ended up with a long stint in jail. Chuck’s father came to see him every week, and the visits were emotional. “I finally just got tired of watching my dad cry for me,” Chuck says. Chuck asked for help, and a homeless Veteran outreach coordinator at VA arranged for his release from prison so he could begin treatment with other Veterans at a facility in nearby Grand Island, Nebraska.
After that, Chuck enrolled in outpatient substance use disorder treatment with VA back in his hometown. “It was like going to school every day,” he says. “I can get up in the morning, catch a ride out there, spend all day learning more stuff, put more tools in my toolbox.” His camaraderie with other Veterans in the community also helped.
Receiving the treatments and staying sober gave Chuck a new start. He landed a job after meeting a doctor and his wife who used to help Veterans in recovery. They needed a receptionist for the urgent care clinic they owned, and they saw how well he interacted with people.
Chuck also met the woman who would become his second wife. She was fostering a grandchild, and by the time the state of Nebraska determined that the child was eligible for adoption, the couple was engaged. Chuck decided to apply to adopt the child with his partner, although he feared his background would disqualify him.
The state approved the adoption. “All I had to do was be honest, and [tell them] this is where I'm at now, and this is what I’m doing to stay on the right path,” he says.
Now Chuck is enjoying his new family, including the time they spend together on activities in the peace and quiet away from the city. He also wants other Veterans to know that, whatever their challenges, they can overcome them if they seek help. “You don’t have to live like this,” he advises. “There is an easier, softer way.”
“Life is good,” he declares.
