Visit #3

It was time for my telephone call to my wife. The conversation took a serious turn and I knew this was coming at some point. Frankly, I am surprised it took this long. Unfortunately due to my circumstances, there is little I can do to help. In fact, all I can do is make suggestions and then it is entirely up to my wife to make the decisions. This serious turn in the conversation is certainly part of the consequences of my compulsive gambling behavior which has affected my wife. I know we will somehow work through this dilemma but it won’t be easy. I can’t dwell on these very real issues because the damage is done and thankfully I am no longer adding to this. This damage will be around for a long time and eventually I will be more help but for now it all falls into my wife’s lap.

I felt badly when the conversation ended and our time was up. I didn’t like ending the call this way. Fortunately, my friend had a telephone call scheduled later and was able to connect. I used his phone time to call my wife back and offered her another suggestion. I felt much better when we ended this conversation than the prior one. I’m not sure what my wife is going to do, but I do know that everything is and will workout very well.

Shortly after 10:00 pm I went to sleep. I am still amazed I am able to fall asleep at this time with all the radios and laughter. I was eagerly awaiting my 3rd visit from two very dear friends who are coming from a long way. Since I was anticipating a visit, my morning routine was altered when I awoke. I shaved and showered and wanted to be fully ready when the unlock came for the visit. I was ready when the door was unlocked for breakfast, but I was missing a nice shirt. I was able to borrow a button down “blue” shirt from a former Instructor. I was happy to have a different blue shirt because mine aren’t very nice. I wanted to look my best for my dear friends.

Since there is no way of knowing the time of any visits, I sat on my bunk and waited patiently while reading. Finally around 10:15 am, the CO came into the dorm and called for the “White Guy”. I’m not sure why he referred to me that way since there are other “white guys” in the dorm but this is how he called me. I quickly put my book down, put my nice shirt on, and went out the door making my way towards the visiting area.

I went out the “Plaza Gate” and as I pushed the door open, I instantly spotted my two friends on my immediate right. They both looked great and we embraced each other with a fabulous hug. It has been over 7 months since I last saw these great friends. They traveled a very long distance just to visit me and I am truly honored. The visit today marked the fourth and fifth persons who have come here and each of these people I have known a very short period of time yet it is like we are old friends who are very dear and fantastic people.

The next 4 ½ hours flew by as the conversation centered on recovery and the extraordinary GA Program. Yes, I have met these friends through the program and the benefits keep on coming. I realize I have written a great deal about the GA Program and now I will continue. In 11 days I will reach the 2 year mark since my last wager and in this 2 years not only have I discovered an incredible program of recovery, I have developed lifelong friends. I spent today with 2 of these friends as we shared experience, strength, and hope. I couldn’t believe how fast the time went by and during our conversations I became quite verbal. As we spoke about recovery, my interest was at a high level because during my days here I am quite low key and other than my exercise and waiting, I don’t have a verbal outlet. It was so nice – heck it was great – to spend an entire afternoon speaking about recovery. All of us today are novices in the GA program but we certainly “get it” and know what it takes to recovery from this baffling addiction.

This was once again a fabulous visit and I am eternally grateful to my dear friends. They bought me food I can eat from the vending machines. They purchased two diet 7 ups, yogurt, sunflower seeds, and peanuts. We were able to get our pictures taken and I was able to take one back with me. We were also able to sit outside on a glorious sunny warm day talking. I had a smile on my face the entire time we were together. My dear friends had a very long drive to get back to Southern California so we had to say our “good-byes”. Again, we embraced for a great hug and as we hugged I thought how blessed a person I am, all thanks to the GA Program. I would like to thank my two fantastic friends for taking the time to make my day today extra special. Thank you!

As I walked back to the yard I still had a big smile on my face. I had a telephone call scheduled to call my father on his birthday. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get through because there was a block on his phone. Not everyone has the ability to accept collect calls which is the only way I can place a call. I wanted to wish my Dad a very Happy Birthday and also wanted to hear his voice. I have not spoken to him in over 7 months and thought today would be a special day to call him. Oh well, Happy Birthday, Dad and many more to come. I love you!

Since I couldn’t get through I tried to call my younger sister but she wasn’t home. I still had time left and I decided to call my mother even though I was going to call her tomorrow night. We didn’t have the full 15 minutes, we had about 11 minutes which seemed more like 11 seconds! The telephone call was abruptly cut-off as I was in mid-sentence. Thankfully, I can call her tomorrow because we really didn’t discuss much of anything. I talked about the fabulous visit and not much else. Hopefully, we can pick up where we left off tomorrow. If those 15 minutes on the phone go by as fast as the 11 minutes today did, this is always good because the faster time goes by, the faster I get to be with my family. All in all, today was one of those special days and my friends are exceptional people.