The Drinker Returns from Rehab: Now What? | Sober and Unashamed

A little over two years into my sobriety, I chaperoned a week-long church youth mission trip to a Native American reservation. We fed a huge bison, built a fence, learned about the culture, and met a lot of interesting people (side note — if you want to see the impact of rampant alcoholism on a community, chaperone a church youth mission trip to a Native American reservation).

I returned feeling really good about myself. I had given my time and energy to two of my kids and the teenagers in our church community. The kids got an exposure to addiction that no amount of talking could have equaled, no one was trampled by the buffalo, and no digits or limbs were lost to the novice operation of power saws. The worst thing I did all week was eat at McDonald’s. Twice.

I felt really good about myself. That is, I felt good until I reunited with my wife.

The week apart had me longing for her smile and embrace. I had fantasized about closing our bedroom door after the kids went to sleep that first night back. A week of fending off the solicitations of toothless alcoholics left me feeling horny. Wait — that could be misinterpreted. The separation from my wife is what had me feeling horny. The toothless alcoholics begging for money were in no way stimulating.