James attended Recovery for a Lifetime, my Biblical 12 Step recovery group in Frederick, Maryland. After being clean for almost 2 years, himself, James contacted me about his Uncle Paul coming to Helping Up Mission.
Uncle Paul is 65 years old. A former teacher, he spent much of his adult life struggling with his alcohol addiction. And to the surprise of many in his family he agreed to come.
Paul felt comfortable with what we do here and settled in. That was almost 4 years ago.
He graduated from our 12-month residential Spiritual Recovery Program and then found a work as a security officer in one of the office complexes here in the city. That’s been almost 3 years now.
One of those most pleased about this turn-around in Paul’s life was his mom. She never gave up on her boy. When she passed away 2 years ago – 9 weeks shy of her 99th birthday – she saw her son living sober and being the responsible adult she raised him to be.
Mom was a teacher. In 1978, she became the first elementary school science teacher to serve as president of the National Science Teacher Association (NSTA).
Next week Paul will be in New York to accept posthumously the NSTA Legacy Award on behalf of his mother. NSTA has also created the Sylvia Shugrue Award for Elementary School Teachers in her honor. Paul is so proud of her.
Paul is also proud of the fact that he can go there today and represent his mother well. But we all know mamma’s real proud of him, too!
One Life at a Time,
Pastor Gary Byers
Deputy Director