Every year this thought goes through my head on this day.

I’m sitting at my desk in my den and thinking about “THAT DAY” with tears of joy. December 16 is not a birthday or a names day but it is a significant anniversary for me. Fourteen years ago on December 16, 2000 I had not slept a wink the night before, not because I was up using drugs, I was actually clean for 8 days at this point, but because of how scared, nervous, and ashamed I was to where I was going the next day. I was up real early I had the freedom to run, but where was I to go? I had accepted in my heart that where I was going that day was indeed where I should be. I remember having two suitcases and getting on an afternoon flight with my mom from O’Hare Airport going to Stewart Airport in Newburgh NY.

When we landed two men approached us and one of them asked me in a deep southern accent, “are you George?” I said yes, he said “I am Steve, I am your driver for tonight, let me take your suitcases.”  My mom was right there with me every step of the way. We drove for about 40 minutes, small talk, what I did for a living etc. etc. When we finally got off the Thru Way I87 I noticed we took some back roads up a mountain. Now my heart was racing and I wanted out! I remember thinking to myself, “if I want to leave how in the world am I going to make it out of here?” I remember pulling up to the facility called Transformation Life Center which houses men with life controlling issues such as drugs and alcohol. “How did I end up here?” Nineteen years prior was just a blur, I was in a Christian recovery program with my mom witnessing this. I thought, “how incredibly hurt and disappointed she must be with me?” I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for her to watch her son, her first born, her pride and joy, her “LEVENTI” going into a recovery program for drugs and alcohol.  She kept her tears back and so did I.

We drove up Chad Lane and we were escorted up the side of hill to the dorm which I would be living in for the next year. My mom right there by my side. They brought me to the bed I would be sleeping in and left us alone. I remember silence while she helped me unpack. I remember her helping me double up on bed sheets because the mattress had coffee stains, I remember her helping me unpack my suitcases and helping me put all my clothes in all the drawers, it was like time was at a standstill, I did not want her to leave. I wanted this nightmare to end! I wanted to wake up as a 15 year old playing basketball for St. Demetrious Greek Orthodox Church with no worry on  my heart, I wanted to go back in time and tell that 12 year old, don’t try drugs EVER!!!! EVER!!!!! It’s a lie!!! You will end up in rehab!! I remember my mom taking her time because I knew full well she did not want to leave my side, but the time had come where she needed to leave. I remember her breaking down crying and telling me how proud she was of me, I could not believe it at the time because from my perspective I was a 31 year old grown man with NOTHING but two suitcases of hand-me-down clothes because I had sold all my Armani suits and wardrobe for cocaine money. But she saw the “real” George, she saw the man in me, the person that I am today, she saw the future, I was stuck in the past but she was looking into my future. Today I remember what my mother did for me fourteen years ago. Thank you, and I love you.

Our Mission through LIFEiLEAD is to Biblically equip,  develop, and empower men and women who have been freed from the bondage of addiction, with knowledge, competencies, and skills to become passionate leaders with integrity in all areas of their lives.

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