StoryCorps: Reggie and Barbara Moser

Reggie: With me, I’d say it started off with realizing I had a problem with drugs and alcohol about 15 years ago. Barbara here had shown me, by throwing me out a third time, or whatever it was, that she needed to get the kids into a safe environment. I wasn’t quite physically harming anybody, but I was emotionally and mentally harming people and I was verbally abusive to her and the children and I was hooked on drugs and alcohol. So I surrendered.

And I think what I did was, without even realizing it, I asked God to help me. Because I was heading down the wrong road quick and I was heading for death, basically. I was addicted to crack cocaine for about two years and that brings you right down to your knees, that stuff. So I surrendered and I started seeking help. And I found it in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.

And I started to realize I could not do this by myself, I could not recover on my own resources. I needed help from other people and from a power greater than myself. I’ve developed a firm belief that I must find a spiritual basis of life or else I’m going to fail and go back to drinking and drugging and I don’t want to do that.

I believe spirituality is what has finally brought me to a place where I have a relationship with my higher power and I can turn things over that I can’t handle. I realize when there’s something in my life that's just so hard and I’m struggling with it. So I need to recognize it when it comes and try to turn that thing, whatever that’s come into my life, and turn it over to my higher power so he can handle it and then I’m able to function a little better.

Barbara: One of the great things is I’m able to believe after these 15 years that we’ve travelled down this road of sobriety, that we’ve now just breaking the chain that we brought our children into. Because our youngest child called today and said, “Mom, I want to share with you that today is my 30 days. Today I’ve been 30 days clean and sober and it’s because of you guys.” And that just meant the world to me.

Reggie: This is a child – he was turned onto a drug at nine years old. And from nine years old up to 19 he has been more or less using drugs and alcohol and he’s not been able to live, or even grow up. Because I believe that when you use drugs and alcohol from a certain age, whatever age it starts you actually stop growing mentally and emotionally and spiritually at that age. So he’s just learning how to grow up right now. And he’s made a decision to change his life and turn it around. He’s a miracle.

Barbara: That’s what I told him.