“I don’t think that’s a good
idea, Marjorie. Billy has attended Celebrate Recovery, I have counseled him,
and at my suggestion, he enrolled in and completed a year-long residential
program. What more do I have to offer? Maybe you should contact a different
counselor, and get a fresh start.”
Well, that simply wouldn’t do,
and Marjorie begged me to see them. I finally relented, and told her that I’d
give it a try, but that Billy would have to “tow the line.”
Things went well for a couple of
weeks, and Billy seemed to be “back up on the wagon.” However, I always began recovery-type
sessions with accountability questions, and as the third session got underway I
looked at Billy and asked,
“Well, how has it been the past
week? Have you used any drugs or alcohol?”
To which the young man
sheepishly responded,
“Uh. Yes. Yes, I did. I smoked a
couple of joints, and used a lot of crack cocaine. As a matter of fact, I spent
my entire check on the stuff.”
(I previously inferred that I
experienced one session in which I simply “lost it.” Well, readers, if there
was any doubt at all, this was that one session).
My subsequent action, and the
words I spoke aloud surprised even me.
Jumping up from my chair, I
virtually screamed,
“Get out of my office! And don’t
come back! You don’t owe me anything for today. Just get out of my sight! And
don’t even think of contacting me again!”
Billy and Marjorie were up and
out the door before you could sing the first line of “Yankee Doodle!”
Our Celebrate Recovery group
eventually petered out, and died with hardly a whimper. It was as if the thing
had a self-destruct mechanism built into it. Eventually, eight or ten appeared.
Then five. Then two.
And then it went “the way of all
flesh.”
I hope we did some good. From my
perspective, the one bright spot was the family group I led on a weekly basis.
(I had long since delegated oversight of the addictions group to my other
leaders).
I cannot speak for Celebrate Recovery
groups elsewhere, and won’t attempt to do so, but I think the members of our
local group were celebrating
… the same thing they had been
celebrating for a very long time.
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