Part three of a three-part series on alcoholism by reporter Brigette Jobin

On Nov. 25, Ernie celebrated a special anniversary.

It's been 25 years since he's had a drink. For a quarter of a century, Ernie has been sober. He wasn't always that way, though.

Ernie, whose last name will remain anonymous, grew up with an alcoholic father. He married at 18 and started having children at 19. Not ready for the pressures of family life and still dealing with growing up in an alcoholic home, Ernie began to drink, too.

"Addiction is genetic. It can also be environmental, who you hang around with," said Ernie.

That November night 25 years ago, Ernie was into the vodka. Then something made him call two friends over.

"I was so paranoid if I took another drink that my mind would snap," said the 58-year-old. "I was so scared that if I passed out I'd never wake up."

Ernie knew he needed help. He wanted it.

"I knew with my drinking that I'd end up dead or in jail."

Since the moment of his last drink, Ernie has worked on his sobriety and in the process helped anyone else he could. Knowledge is power and Ernie has books upon books, articles upon articles, cassettes upon cassettes of information to help alcoholics.

"Once you get into recovery, it's like you can't get enough information about it," said the father of four, step-father of eight and grandfather of 23. "Knowledge is power."

Over the last 25 years, Ernie has learned a lot about alcoholism, co-dependency, recovery and spirituality.

"Life is a lesson," he said.

Perhaps the biggest lesson that Ernie learned, and the one that keeps him sober, is what drinking can take away from a person. Family, friends, money, property - all of it can be lost. Ernie knows this because it happened to him.

Addictions don't have boundaries. They can affect anyone. Ernie has seen people who were making a lot of money, owned beautiful houses and had wonderful families, lose them all because of alcoholism.

Sometimes losing everything still doesn't make people stop drinking.

"It's for those who want it, not need it," said Ernie about sobriety. "It's not the idea of being ready. You have to want it."

Addicts in Prince Albert are lucky, too. Ernie says the resources available in the city are tremendous, if a person wants the help.

"The availability of help around town is unreal," he said.

"Help is available if you want to get better."

Every night of the week, there are support group meetings for alcoholics. For years, Ernie has been involved in Alcoholics Anonymous. More recently, he has also been involved with Co-dependents Anonymous.

One of the things that has helped Ernie the most, however, has been his spirituality.

"In my opinion, if you don't have a strong spiritual connection, your sobriety is not going to be that profound," he said. "My spirituality has helped me so much."

He believes it is that spirituality - whether it be God, or a higher power or whatever people believe in - is what has removed his compulsion to drink. He no longer has to fight the urge to drink.

bjobin@paherald.sk.ca