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Layers of History

The guys working on the interior demolition pulled out this little chunk of drywall last week. Someone decided to hang onto it, and we all got to see it at the last progress meeting.

Check out that wallpaper! Hard to say whether those patterned leaves decorated the walls when the building was a lawyer’s office or even further back when it was a priory for the church, but just seeing those layers side by side really gives you a sense of how much history this old house has seen.

Walking through the house now, you can see all the framing that makes up the bones of the house, but I can’t help from thinking what the walls will look like when people live here again. When women who are living in their recovery call this place their home. When the halls are filled with chit-chat and laughter and the stubborn hope that life will be better sober but it will take work. I often think about the future history of this house.

I wonder what the walls will look like.

For me, I really needed time away from my old environment. I needed a place where people are in recovery and are serious about their recovery, a place where I could fit in and give my newly-found recovery a solid foundation.

anonymous

I’m finally getting better. I'm moving forward.

anonymous

Life is so much better. I had no idea the sweet life I could have.

anonymous

My alcoholism was so out of control and so was my life. I had a loss of trust with people who cared about me. It’s devastating. How do you regain that trust?

anonymous

I came here because of word of mouth about Upper Room. I’ve known about God most of my life, but I did not KNOW God.

anonymous

I've learned a lot about myself through this process. My character has changed. It's not easy, but with help, I know I can do it. It is God's will, not mine.

anonymous

The disease is arrested, not destroyed. Each day you have to decide whether you’re going to live or die – because it will kill you.

anonymous

When you’re in the midst of addiction, you’re also in the midst of loneliness and isolation. It’s hard to shake off. Your defense mechanisms are like a coat that you put on.

anonymous