Get Help: 855-342-0869
Blog > Friday the 13th – A Nightmare at My House

Friday the 13th – A Nightmare at My House

Heroes In Recovery
| November 6, 2012

Friday, January 13th, 2012 was a special day. It was the birthday of a woman I have been truly blessed to have in my life—my mother. We celebrated her birthday by going out to dinner at a new restaurant, going bowling, and playing arcade games with my daughter. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the night was a success. I drove home after the festivities had ended and pulled into my driveway. I got out of my car and opened the garage to go inside to catch some sleep. As I opened the door, an unwelcome surprise hit me smack in the nose! During the day, a family of skunks had crawled under my house and sprayed the air conditioning unit. The smell was like nothing I had ever experienced. It was like a nightmare, truly worthy of its inception date, Friday the 13th. It was so bad I had to evacuate my home for 29 days and go stay at my parents’ home. Repairs had to be made to the air unit, things had to be replaced under the house, everything had to be washed multiple times to get the smell out, and we had to leave special machines running in the house for days at a time to remove the smell. It was an ordeal I don’t wish on anyone!

Eventually, repairs were made, the smell was removed, and safeguards were put in place to ensure this didn’t happen again. It took time and patience, but things finally got back to a point where they were bearable again. After a while, things got past being just bearable and got back to normal. It took patience and some work, but the only other alternatives were to live my life in the midst of that skunk farm or to completely throw in the towel and move away.

I thought of this story a few months ago and how it parallels addiction, oddly enough. While it might not seem to have any relevance on the surface, I think a person struggling with an addiction or a family member of someone struggling can relate to the symbolism. My fresh-smelling home (in its original state) represents the happy life people enjoy before an addiction starts to manifest itself. The skunks represent addiction and the odor emitted by the skunks represents the negative consequences associated with addiction. My parents’ home, which I ran to in order to get out of my unbearable situation, represents treatment centers. The work that was done to the house while I was no longer living in it represents the initial steps taken while one is in the treatment center. The safeguards to keep the skunks from coming back represent continued work in sobriety.

In my case, the skunks were there before their smell became so overwhelming apparent. I only became fully aware of the consequences of their habitation after it seemed to be too late. Addiction can be much the same way for both the addict and the family of an addict. Everyone knows that skunks stink and drugs or alcohol can be harmful, but until something truly makes someone sit up and take notice, these things are usually left alone.

Running to stay at my parent’s home was the only way for me to get out of that smelly environment I had created for myself. While I might not have been the foul creature that created the odor, I hadn’t taken any steps to prevent it, so I had to accept responsibility and make necessary changes to get my home in a livable condition again. Skunks are skunks and smelling bad is what they’re known for. This is very much the same as how drugs are known for wreaking havoc on the lives of addicts and their families. During my stay away from my former living environment, I took the steps necessary to fix the problems I was already facing. Things had to be discarded and replaced, much the same way former behaviors need to discarded and replaced by positive behaviors while one is in a treatment program.

The safeguards put in place were things I wanted done to ensure I didn’t face this situation again. The main safeguard was putting a wall in that would not allow the skunks to get back under the house. The safeguards a person in recovery puts in place are attending meetings, working with other addicts, service to others, and working with a sponsor. The wall protecting my home and the steps a person in recovery takes do not ensure a skunk or an addiction will never come back, but they do ensure that they won’t be able to come back as easily.

After reading such an unusual analogy, I’m sure some people may wonder if the smell might have caused some permanent brain damage. It’s possible, but I feel it has left me in a better, more grateful place.  Whenever I smell the appalling aroma of a skunk, I am reminded of where I was at one point with my home and with my addiction. The fact that I am no longer in the midst of either of those struggles makes me grateful. It is an unconventional way to get me to think of the work that was done to repair my life and home and how I don’t want to be in either of those situations again.

My encouragement to someone fighting or watching someone fight an addiction is not to throw in the towel or accept that stinky existence, but to take the necessary steps to repair your life and ensure you aren’t in a similar situation again.

What is your story about making a choice to accept an unacceptable life or make the necessary changes to make that unacceptable life acceptable once again?

1581 Stories