NAME: John M.

SOBRIETY DATE: August 2003

On behalf of the Puente House:

I am a former Medical Doctor who arrived at the Puente House in August of 2003. During the years leading up to this, I had lost everything that once mattered to me: family, fiancee', friends, health, career, medical license, house, and savings. Most importantly, I was losing my soul and my reason for living. This was all due to my untreated cocaine and alcohol addictions. It was in this seemingly hopeless state that I checked myself in. I came there expecting nothing, but found much more than I could ever have imagined - a way of living and a program of recovery that literally saved my life. The safe and structured environment that I was placed into, the mandatory AA meetings that I attended, the chores and commitments that I was assigned, and the amazing camaraderie that I found there all combined to provide me with an excellent foundation for recovery that still exists today.

As a result, hope and promise have now re-entered my life - a life that no longer involves having to take a drink or a drug in order to get through the day. I have become a productive, responsible, and employable member of society again. I feel a passionate zest for living beyond what I have ever experienced in the past. I have been blessed to be given a second chance, and I will always be indebted to Karl Moris and the Puente House for helping to provide that chance. I would highly recommend this sober-living experience to any person who is currently suffering from the disease of alcoholism or drug addiction. I would recommend that their families, who are surely suffering right along with them, strongly encourage their loved one to enter the Puente House. Addiction is a disease that claims thousands of lives every year. Thank God there are places like this that truly make a difference, and where some of these lives can start being saved - just like mine was.

Sincerely,
John Miller, (soon to be practicing again) M.D.