About The River Weasel

It all started when...

I grew up in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains of Northeastern Tennessee.  I come from a loving family and had a great childhood.  I have an incredible group of loyal friends.  I was a 2 sport State Qualifier in high school.  I have a BA in Communication from a top rated Liberal Arts University.  I was an NCAA Athlete.  I successfully hiked the Appalachian Trail, 2000+ miles from Georgia to Maine in one shot.  I have ran children’s programs at resorts that have been named Top 5 in the country by Child Magazine and USA Today.  I have run successful hotels and bars.  I have successfully sold software for one of the largest computer companies in the world.  I am an ADDICT AND ALCOHOLIC. 

If you are still reading, that last one is probably not what you were expecting to see next.  You might be thinking, wait, I thought Addicts and Alcoholics came from broken homes, are uneducated, and live under bridges.  Well, that is sometimes true but not always the case.  The disease of addiction doesn’t care about gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, education, or financial status, it affects all types of people.  

While my life looked pretty great on paper, I struggled with addiction for about 15 years.  Sometimes it was better than others.  But I finally got to a point where it got too much. It wasn’t till I got honest with myself and took a good look at the direction my life was going.  I knew the direction I was heading and that was unacceptable.  I had 2 options:  1. Continue doing what I was doing and scrapping through life miserable till my disease of addiction caught up with me and won.  2. Do something about it.   When I chose option 2, I tried to make changes by myself and failed miserably every time.

On June 10th 2015 I decided to make the biggest change in my life.  I checked myself into a treatment center for alcohol and drug addition in East Tennessee.  I immediately regretted it.  I didn’t know if I could do it, I did know that I couldn’t stop on my own and that I was scared and tired of living the way I was.  I spent 5 days detoxing off a hodgepodge of substances in my system.  That was followed up with 3 months in Treatment Center doing intensive inpatient and outpatient classes.

After leaving the treatment center I was "released" back into society.  That’s when the real work started.  It hasn’t been all unicorns and rainbows, but it is a million times better than it was.  And the best part is that I like myself and am happy now.  I can follow my heart and dreams and do amazing things with out worrying how to have enough drugs and alcohol to get me through the day.  

I was worried that when I got clean and sober that my life would be over.  No more fun, just a boring life.  Boy was I wrong.  Please join me on this journey down the river and in life.