“Anybody can be an alcoholic. That’s easy… all you got to do is pick up the alcohol and start drinking… and eventually you’ll become an alcoholic… because you allow that to take over and consume your life. Anybody can be a drug addict. Anybody can be a prostitute or a drug dealer or this or that. That’s all the easy parts. The hard part is not doing it.”

Jeff was paying a great price for his drinking. His family had left him and he was all alone. She wouldn’t have anything to do with him. It didn’t matter how he tried to connect with her, she wouldn’t acknowledge him. Not having that communication hurt him more than anything. But it got his attention. Finally, he cried out for help… and everything changed.

Jeff, a Cayuga from Six Nations, grew up off the rez in Buffalo, New York. He started partying at an early age and he worked to support his drinking habit. His team’s success in lacrosse gave cause to celebrate often, and even when everyone else went home, for Jeff, the party never ended. He found out though, that not only does drinking ruin relationships, it ruins families.

Alcohol had taken Hugh… it had taken everything from him like it does to so many others. But something happened in his life that made all the difference, and now he has been clean and sober for over 27 years. Listen as Hugh shares the rest of his story.

“I took a drink of my mom’s beer. And it was terrible. I said, ‘Oh, how can you drink that stuff’. I’ll never forget her answer: ‘You’ll find out.’ And she was so right on.” Listen to Hugh share about how he got involved with alcohol and the toll that it would take on his life.

From falling into the freezing waters of the Yukon River to serving on the battlefields of Vietnam, George has lived through many challenging and difficult situations. Drugs and alcohol weren’t the answer he was looking for, but one day George did find something that would change his life forever.