Lives Ruined or Not?

Last night I had the privilege of attending a birthday celebration for two fellow Gamblers Anonymous members. One member was celebrating 8 years of abstinence and the other 3 years of abstinence. There were many people in attendance because these two members are true testaments to the Gamblers Anonymous Program. The member with 3 years experience has a truly inspirational story and I have learned so much from their journey and it has given me so much strength and hope. There are some great people in the Gamblers Anonymous Program and I am truly honored to be in their presence. The Program does work and their is hope and great life to be lived without gambling.

My mother-in-law is visiting from the East Coast and she will be spending Thanksgiving with us. The children were so excited to see her in fact they were so excited they all slept in the same bed. She is a wonderful and loves her family so very much and it is so nice to see my children and how much they love their grandmother.

I wanted to post another article on Compulsive Gambling and please pay close attention to the horrible statistics. Here is a story about a very educated man from Michigan who conquered one addiction for 20 plus years but couldn't control his gambling which led to pitiful incomprehensible demoralization; here is the story;

Addictions Nearly Ruined Burkes Life

Michael Burke never believed one addiction could lead to another.

He addressed 67 community members, telling them of the dangers of getting hooked on alcohol and gambling Thursday evening at the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Gym.

Burke, a Howell resident, said he was surrounded by alcohol since he was a kid.
Alcohol was not looked down upon by my family, he said. You were expected to drink.

Burke said he once was a promising lawyer until the addiction became severe.
I remember one day I told myself I wouldn't let the alcohol control me in the court room, so I didn't drink my vodka, he said. I got in the court room in front of the judge and couldn't even speak in front of the judge my heart was beating, my palms were sweating. The judge just figured it was because I was young and nervous.

He then went back to his car and drank a pint of vodka.

Burke said his tolerance level eventually lowered and on a daily basis he became wasted. Then one day, his wife checked him into the hospital and left him there.

The doctor told me to take the medication or get out, he said. That was the point when I decided to give up my fight with alcohol right there.

Burke rid himself of his addiction for over 20 years, but spent his 25th, 26th, and 27th year of sobriety in prison because of gambling.

If I only put the time into my classes that I put into studying blackjack, I would have been in the top ten of my graduating class, no question about it, he said.

Burke stole money from his clients because he drained his savings more than $100,000. He was arraigned, sent to prison for three years and ordered to pay $1.6 million back to his former clients.

His actions weren't too out of the ordinary for someone who has his addiction, he said. In fact, two out of three compulsive gamblers commit an illegal act to get money, and one out of five compulsive gamblers attempt to commit suicide.

Burke wanted to get one message across to students: Gambling and alcoholism go hand-in-hand.
They go hand (in) hand because you get the same feeling, he said. Students feel two things: They think they are more intelligent and that they have been touched by the hand of God. I know a kid who dropped out of junior college to play poker.

If you find yourself once a week at a casino, Burke said, you have a problem. He also said addicts don't admit they lose money ever.

Joe Sowmick, public relations director for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, said it was good for a speaker to come address the community.

The message is if you think you have a problem, it probably is and you should talk to someone versed in these matters, he said. It was a message we wanted the community to hear.

Burke said he still thinks about the day he got arraigned for stealing he went to the hospital with a heart condition, the day of the arraignment, and was told he had to have triple bypass surgery or he'd die.

A priest came in my room that night and tried to give me my last rites, he said. I yelled at him to get out. I wanted to die unforgiven and go to Hell for what I had done to my family.

Burke hoped the message would resonate to students so they would not to end up in the same position.

I still remember something a speaker told me when I was in rehab: "If you can drink it, snort it, roll it or inject it, you can get addicted to it," so don't do it, Burke recalled.