feature story

I have been neglecting my blog... There are plenty of things to post, but my schedule has been so hectic! I will post photos soon, but in the meantime, enjoy this story I wrote for my feature writing class:

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Jeff Johnson remembers his first taste of alcohol: He was 16, sipping on a warm Pabst Blue Ribbon behind the Senior Wing of his high school.

“It was isolated and away from the rest of the campus. All the seniors would sit back there, smoke joints and drink. I started drinking pretty regularly when I was 16 or 17 years old,” he said.

Fast-forward 20 years—Johnson’s relationship with alcohol became more than playing hooky in high school. He trained for the U.S. Coast Guard in New Jersey in 1976 and then worked in search and rescue and maritime law enforcement in S.C. He later worked for various newspapers there, as well.  With careers in the U.S. Coast Guard and journalism, drinking came naturally and often.

“I had the right environment for a stereotypical, alcoholic lifestyle. I didn’t think of it being out of the ordinary because everyone was doing the same thing,” Johnson said.

He drank steadily for about almost two decades. As time went on, the alcohol slowly began to take a toll.

Johnson went out for a night of casual drinking at the bar with his friends and colleagues after a long workday almost 20 years ago. The night became an initial understanding of what he was doing to himself. 

“I got a pretty good load on that night,” Johnson said. “I remember coming home and I remember waking up the next morning, or afternoon, or whatever it was. And the clothes I had worn the night before were in the middle of the room, soaking wet. I have no idea how that happened…that was the first indication I had before I realized, ‘this isn’t quite right.’”

Johnson was 36 when he had an epiphany that enough was enough.

On Dec. 23, 1994, he had his drink of choice—Seagram 7 and 7—and it ended up being the last time he ever drank a drop of alcohol.

 “I woke up the next day, Christmas Eve, with the worst hangover I’d ever had in my life. I really had thought that I had poisoned myself—maybe I did, I don’t know. It was just bad. I was in bed all day long. All day. And I realized later on when I was feeling a little better, ‘If I don’t stop this, I’m going to die.’”

That moment of clarity was the start of a new lifestyle for Johnson. He didn’t feel that formal rehab was necessary, but instead performed a rehab-esque experiment on himself.

“I did it on my own. What I did instead [of rehab] was I said, ‘I’m going to see if I can go 28 days without having a drink.’ 28 turned to 29, 29 to 30. I stopped counting around 200 or so and haven’t had a drink since,” he said.

            Johnson’s journey towards a healthy lifestyle didn’t stop with quitting drinking. In the summer of 1996, he stopped smoking. He then learned how to be a computer programmer and a photographer, began working out and even practiced yoga. The way he lived his life changed, and as far as relapse goes, Johnson said he’s never been tempted.

“For some people, it’s a daily struggle. I was well on my way to becoming an alcoholic. I’ll occasionally have dreams of drinking and wake up in a panic thinking I’ve relapsed. It’s something I don’t want to go back to. Dreams of drinking are nightmares for me,” he said.

Today, Johnson is a 55-year-old professor who lives with his wife and three cats in Loganville, Ga. Keeping a firm grasp on the reality of relapse has helped him stay sober.

“I have this knowledge that, for me, alcohol is a pipe bomb wired to my transmission. But it only goes off if you put the car in reverse. As long as I keep it in drive, I’m fine. Gotta keep going forward.”