Authors List
What I remember about Gerry was how naturally he found his way back into routine once he had the space — as if the practices he thought he had lost were only waiting to be picked up again.
A Quiet Arrival
Gerry arrived with a quiet, unassuming presence. He was 44, softly spoken, and looked like someone who’d been through a lot — not sure yet whether he’d come out the other side.
He’d been sober for five years before this latest return to drinking. A long stretch. He knew what it took to stay clean. But something had unraveled recently — small daily stressors, he said, piling up until they blurred into something heavy enough to break the surface. The way it so happens sometimes: not with big catastrophe, but with weariness and complacency.
More Than Just Drinking
He wasn’t drinking every day. Just enough to feel it. A bottle or two on the weekends. Sometimes less. Sometimes more. But it wasn’t about quantity, not really. What brought him to us was the feeling that nothing else in his life carried meaning anymore. Joy had faded. He felt detached — from people, from purpose, even from himself.
There was one thing he missed deeply, though: the spiritual practices he used to lean on. Buddhism. Meditation. He said those had once anchored him, but now felt distant, like something he’d left behind without meaning to.
Returning to Routine
What stood out about Gerry wasn’t his struggle so much as how quickly he fell back into routine when he had the space. Within a week he was arriving early for mindfulness groups; by the second he was offering to run the evening meditations — not for attention, but because it helped him stay present.
His voice was calm and straightforward. He didn’t preach; he shared the room, and people responded. He brought a steady, practical presence to the sessions.
Looking Toward Home
Toward the end of his stay, I asked him how he felt about going home. He said it wouldn’t be easy. That some days would still feel empty. But he wasn’t scared of that anymore. He’d started attending Dharma Recovery meetings online and had already found a group in his hometown that he planned to join when he got back.
A Quiet, Real Recovery
There was no dramatic turnaround in Gerry’s story. No sudden moment of clarity. But maybe that’s what made it feel so real. Recovery, for him, wasn’t about conquering anything. It was about returning — to stillness, to connection, to the small, meaningful rituals that helped him stay human.
Learn more about our group and individual counseling sessions.
