Grateful for the Boss

Although I understand and respect that anonymity is important for a lot of us, I was blessed with an employer who was very supportive in my recovery. As long as I was an honest and reasonable with my requests to be off work for recovery-related events, he was always willing and happy to allow me the time away from work. My time away from work for recovery related items was no where near the amount of time or inconvenience to him when I called in sick at the last minute when I was drinking. I believe he was just glad that I turned into a trustworthy employee (as was I) who would plan time off in advance, unlike the past. I will never forget how much caring and support my employer gave me during my stay at Valley Hope and that very difficult first year or so of recovery. It seems like it was only yesterday (now 3-1/2 years later) when I went into his office to ask time off of work so I could go to Valley Hope to stop drinking, even though it was the company's busiest time of year. I can remember telling him I could wait until after summer when things slowed down and that it wasn't an emergency. His response was, "we don't know that it's not an emergency, it could save your life--- take all the time off you need. Your job will be here when you get back." He even paid me 100% of my salary when I was away. I hear so many stories of how difficult it can be to get away from work and I'm very grateful that I worked for someone who supported me so much. I'm very open and honest about being a recovering alcolohic and I can say at times it's been very scary, but I have never been negatelively impacted by being honest about my alcholoism. I don't believe there is one right answer or one right path for all of us on this topic; I can only share what helps me. It can be very difficult to determine when it is appropropriate to share the information with others or not to --- but, my sponspor and friends in AA are a big help with those decisions. I believe this is just another example of how important and beneficial honesty is in our recovery. It has a lot to do with boundaries --- something else that's very new to a lot of us as well.

By: Pam S.