Working to be and do better

I have some amends to try and make.

I have used reckless behavior in many drinking establishments and on roads in Cedar Rapids and the surrounding area. Gazette readers have seen my name in the OWI arrest log, numerous times. I'm not proud but ashamed, which is why I'm writing this letter.

I have battled this driving force of addiction for at least 30 years. Many times I found myself forced into prison and, while out on parole, treatment. This was just to play the game, to have it on paper that I completed requirements. Then I'd return to the same compulsive, obsessing behaviors.

I await the sound of the judge's gavel, knowing I will return to custody because I thought I was under control. Since my last OWI, I had a public intoxication - a wake up call that I am powerless over alcohol and my life is very much unmanageable.

I chose to detox at Mercy Hospital, and asked for more help - a pill, a referral to treatment, anything. There is no known pill, but a referral to Pathways in Waterloo was offered. I took full advantage and realized this is what I needed, for myself and for all those I've impacted. I am one less impaired driver on the streets. Thanks to God, Pathways, AA/NA (because a drug is a drug), and family who never gave up on me.

Bobby Surrett

Central City