Growing

Growing Part 36

Ag's POV:

       It's been a month since checking into the treatment center and I'm finally leaving today. The first week was the worst. I had do deal with the physical repercussions of leaving alcohol. My hands didn't stop shaking for a solid 9 days. I dealt with the headaches and the throwing up, but the ultimate worst part was the craving. Then once I was physically fine, came the much harder mental aspect. The place I went to had an Alcoholic's Anonymous group that I actually got pretty close with. The program wasn't as religious as it had originally been because a majority of the people in my group weren't religious. But it was nice to learn about that aspect of it too. I had found a sponsor as well. Her name is Desiree but everyone calls her Des. She was in her late 20's and really down to earth. She wasn't afraid to be honest and that's what I liked about her. Today she was gonna give me my 30 day sober chip and drive me home.

       My new friend Adam walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "I'm happy for you but I'm also fucking mad at you for leaving me here." Adam was 22 and had a problem for almost 3 years while he was in college. He lost a lot of his family and only has a little sister that he says I remind him of.

"I'm sorry but I'm really happy about finally moving on, you know? I feel genuinely excited for life without being tied down."

"I'm proud of you kid."

       Des came over to us and said the meeting was about to start. This was going to be my last meeting at the center so it was going to be a sort of goodbye because I was going to transition to a new group of people not in the center. I was going to give a speech today and I was a little nervous but these people were family. It came time for me to speak so I got up and took a deep breath unfolding my paper.

"Hey, guys. My name is Ag and I'm an alcoholic."

"Hello Ag." The group said.

"Today marks 30 days sober," claps arose and I waited to continue "This was definitely not easy and I'm sure I'll still have bad days, but I'm so grateful to each and every one of you. I have learned a valuable lesson from all of your triumphs and struggles. The call to alcohol might never go away, but I also know that I do have the strength I never saw possible. I want to grab life by the balls and seize the day as we so eloquently say all the time." I smiled as they laughed. "I want to continue to love myself like I know I'm capable of. I want to know I can lean on others even when it seems like no one is there, because I know they love me. I'm ready to live my life with no regrets instead of full of regrets. So thank you all of you. I love you all."

       Everyone clapped as I finished and Des presented me with my chip. I had to wipe tears from my eyes as she gave me a much needed hug. The meeting continued and my chest got tighter the closer we got to leaving. I was so nervous to get out but excited. I hadn't spoken to my mom, Mia or any of my friends for that matter since the day she dropped me off. That means I hadn't spoken to Anna either. I had no idea what she was doing or where she was. Did I deserve to know any of that information though? I broke her heart for selfish reasons I know now. I thought I was saving her from me, but in reality I was saving myself from her hurting me first. I knew she would never do it but I was a completely different person when I was drinking that's how it was a couple years ago.

I guess I would have to see how it went.
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Anna's POV:

       Class went really well today. I was enjoying this professor, she made everything easy to understand and remember while at the same time being fun. I said goodbye to a few of my classmates that I had become friends with and head to my car to see a text from Mia.