Recovery has created a different world for me these past 23 years. I entered a residential program in 1987 at age 40, after my second marriage began to fail and I realized that alcohol had been my best friend for 27 years. We have no way of knowing the damaging effects of our addiction on our families and friends until we change. Addiction causes one to look inward, not out toward others.

That has changed now. In my first year of sobriety, I worked with recovering adolescents. After a 30-year career with the U.S. Postal Service, I returned to college, graduated, and have been a certified addictions counselor for the last five years. I help my clients set the best example they can for their families. We need their love and trust.

I have a happy marriage of 32 years with my wife and enjoy close relationships with my son, daughter, and two grandchildren. I spend my free time playing active sports like road-biking and kayaking, and doing creative arts. I have volunteered for many organizations. I am on the local American Cancer Society's Relay for Life team and am on the volunteer committee with Umpqua Partners Ramble for Recovery. I also enjoy helping local Cub Scouts earn badges.

My greatest and most humbling contribution was to anonymously donate a kidney in 2005. I was also chosen in 2010 to be A&E's Oregon Delegate for Faces and Voices of Recovery in celebration of Recovery Month. Recovery is a second chance at life and has shown me that there are no limitations to giving to our community and leading the best life we possibly can.