Tyler D. My P house story. I'm not going to lie, I struggled through The House. I originally landed at the Prescott House due to fear of prison time. I had been arrested again, only this time it wasn't a misdemeanor. In a drunken, drugged up state I robbed the apartment of a person I felt owed me, and along with my drunk friend found myself charged with two felonies. My great enabling parents quickly sent me out to rehab to avoid immediate jail time. Although I did not know until after I graduated, the charges were dropped because the defendant's failure to show in court. So needless to say I wasn't at the Prescott House because I "was done". It took months for me to see that I did not want the life I had before I got sober. I spent the first few months just trying to skate by on compliance with rules and hoped that I would soon be able to leave and go back to the only thing I knew as life. I think just the amount of time that the long term treatment provided, afforded me a new perspective on life. I ceased craving the dismal existence of oblivion and began to have some kind of hope for my future. I had never given much thought to what I really wanted to do in life. I realized I had been going through life just reacting to my fears and the world around me, without ever really deciding what I wanted. Since things were going well for once in my life, I decided that I would give this sobriety thing a chance. I told myself that after a year or two if I still felt like smoking weed was what I wanted, then I would return to what I knew, but for now I would try something completely new. So after much struggle and the shortest side door in history (2 hours, it didn't work out as planned, obviously), I graduated in May of 2003 after 9 long months of fun and groups. I spent two more years in a men's group while working and exploring the awkward world of a sober relationship. I learned a lot about supporting myself and self esteem in general. After that relationship fizzled out, I spent a year just working on myself and slowly returning to school at Yavapai College. I found my true interest in Physics and learned that I was the only thing standing in my way of anything. When I was in the house I went to the morning meeting called "Not a Glum lot" many days, and that was where I first met my soon to be wife. Although I did not talk to her much then, and later, one of my friends actually dated her for a while, three years into sobriety, I found myself a very different person than I once was. Elizabeth and I began dating and I guess we are a good match for each other. After three years together we will be getting married this summer. Once we graduated from Yavapai College, we transferred up to Flagstaff together to go to NAU. We have spent the past two years very busy with school and work and life, but this May, Elizabeth and I will both be graduating with 4.0 gpas and looking forward to our lives together, where ever that may take us. We are not exactly sure where our next step is to be, but through my years sober, I've learned that I don't need to know. As long as I do the foot work, things really do take care of themselves without me worrying about them. Elizabeth and I both have very large dreams and there isn't anything wrong with that today. I believe completely that as long as I seek the truth in life, I will be ok. My life is so much more today than I ever really planned. Of course I don't have millions of dollars yet but I also know that money is not a good source of happiness for me anymore. Thank you Prescott House for helping me on my path to a spiritual life. When I look back on the way I was living before sobriety, I really don't understand why. Why I did the things I did, why I didn't do the things I didn't do? But I am forever grateful for this life. I guess it’s worth mentioning, I have been sober ever since my first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous at age 20. I am now 26 and will be getting 7 years on July 15 if I keep doing my part and keep letting God do its part. More... “Before the P house my world was dark, lonely and filled with guilt and shame about who I really was.  I fought this world with drugs, denial, secrecy, selfishness and a sort of false pride. It helped everyone around me see what I wanted them to see. ……Now I live in freedom”   Paul B. “The Prescott House changed the way I think, act and behave.  To face consequences and live with integrity.  To be honest with myself and others.   To be responsible and loving.”  Scott C. “I felt hopeless when I first entered treatment. Prescott House gave me hope and helped me live life on life’s terms”   Mauricio D. “Primary treatment taught me about addition. The P house let me practice recovery.” Matt B. “I came in here a stubborn, angry, entitled boy and left here a grateful man in recovery.”  Chris R.                                                                                                                        “The P House was much more intense and prolonged than primary treatment, and the uncertain duration of the program helped me take it more seriously.”  Steve B. “Still didn’t trust myself when Primary was over. Extended treatment with intensive group therapy. Was something I needed to live a sober life”   Michael Mc I. “My primary treatment was education on the disease of addiction. No family of origin or feelings work involved.  The Prescott House helped me find the real me.”   Joseph M. “The House has driven me to be more honest with myself and other people. It has given me the strength to stand up for myself.”   Charles  W. “Allowed me to be my own person away from my parents. I have a lot of friends & support. I’m holding a job & paying bills”   Warren  A.      “By not allowing me to run, and letting me find out who I really am.  There is a support group who care and will be there always”  Robert C.            “I needed the structure that they had. I also needed to be removed from outside issues & distractions, so I could work on myself.“  Adam C.     “The P house made me look at things in my life that I didn’t want to look at; my behavior, my attitude,   and my addictive thinking. That experience helped me change”  Jason C.         "I have a lot more confidence in my sobriety.  I have a strong connection with my Higher Power; not to run and face reality”   Jean P. "Night & Day…..Primary is like reading a book about something.  Extended treatment is living the book…Coming to the Prescott House changed my life in every way. I came as a scared child and left a man" Anonymous Andrew E. My first week at the Prescott House was awful. I absolutely hated it. I complained to my parents that it was a dump and I wanted to go somewhere like my friend had gone, where they got to go on scuba diving trips and such. So, I did what I knew how to do; I found two other men that were not serious about recovery and got drunk. I stayed mostly drunk for four days, as it was Thanksgiving weekend so there were few groups to attend. Jerry kind of ruined that buzz when he requested a urine sample. I instead filled the cup with water and, when Jerry accused me of doing so, I said words to him that inspired him to call the cops. The cops arrived, but luckily for me one of my accomplices decided to start breaking stuff right when they got there. The cops arrested him, and I got put up in Motel 6 for the night. The next day when I showed up at the House, Al and Byrnie, with persuasion from my primary therapist who had also drank at the House, informed me that I could either live on the streets or do everything that they said, including sitting on tables for a month straight. Convinced that living on the streets in a strange town was the inferior option, I chose the latter. I took the step before the steps shortly thereafter, as the Prescott House essentially forced me to become willing to go to any lengths to get sober. That was November 30, 2004, when I was 21 years old. I have been sober ever since. I did everything they said from there on out, except for maybe a few trivial things (in the interest of rigorous honesty). I realized about a month into my stay that those chance happenings (my accomplice freaking out so I didn’t get sent to jail, incredibly not being able to procure hard drugs in Prescott, and my counselor pushing for me to be allowed to stay) were probably a good indicator that I was where I was supposed to be. And it turns out that everything the people from meetings had promised would happen came true. I found I could have more genuine relationships when I was real rather than wearing a mask, that I could be happy, and that I could stop being a victim and start taking responsibility for my own actions. Being in the House allowed me to learn some basic life skills that I had never learned and also afforded me the time to work on some issues that had contributed to my dependence on alcohol. But most importantly, it allowed me to stay in a safe place with strong support long enough to work the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and in doing so I developed a relationship with a Higher Power and realized that my life had a purpose. I decided after 15 months in Prescott that I wanted to go back to school in San Diego; with the House’s blessing, I did so. Moving and leaving the incredible friends I had made was very difficult, but I made it through sober by implementing the tools I learned at the House and in meetings. I have since graduated from that school, earning a 4.0 after returning. I then decided that I might want to give law school a chance and was offered a full scholarship. I recently completed the first semester at the top of my class. My parents, who when they dropped me off at the Prescott House told me that it might be better if I never came back to Southern California, have since welcomed me back into their home. These are a few of the external gifts I have received in sobriety, but these don’t really compare to the internal gifts. My life has a purpose now, and the gratitude I feel as a result of being in and coming out of a dark place has made even the worst days feel like a blessing. It is a beautiful life, and I am forever grateful to the Prescott House for showing me how to build the foundation that led to this life.