Twice in a Lifetime

               
                                                                        Twice in a Lifetime

    When Bryce and Carrie met in 1972, she was 14 and he was 13.  Neither one realized they had met each others soul mate.  They met through Carrie's best friend Dora, who was Bryce's sister.  They hated each other initially and it took several years for cupid's arrow to find them.  They started dating three years after meeting and it was an intense relationship.  Having both come from highly dysfunctional families, they had no idea how to form a healthy relationship.  They fought and argued furiously, to the point where it would get physical.  Bryce had grown up in an alcoholic household and had seen his parents fight endlessly.  Carrie's parents were divorced but she had seen them fight and argue many times before they split up.  Since both had grown up feeling unloved, they clung to each other and the love they felt for one another.  In 1976 they moved into an apartment together and that's when the real trouble started.  While Carrie saw herself playing house, Bryce turned their apartment into party central.  He would bring kegs of beer into their living room and the party didn't end until the beer did.
    Several years went by and the partying slowed down a little.  Then, in 1980, Carrie was sick for a few days. She was vomiting, tired and felt she was losing her mind.  Her mother took her to the doctor's where she discovered that she was pregnant!  At first she wasn't sure how she felt about having a baby but it didn't take long for her to realize that she was ecstatic.  She was 22 years old and had been having maternal urges for a year or so.  What scared her was the thought of Bryce's reaction.  He had never expressed any interest in having children and his alcohol use was really out of control.
    When Bryce got home from work, Carrie gave him the news of her pregnancy.  Bryce was not ready to become a father and he told Carrie so.  His drinking progressed in the months to come.  Eventually Carrie had had enough and she left Bryce.  He was her first love and she always saw the good in him but he needed to grow up and get help for his alcohol abuse.  She had never planned to be a single parent but life doesn't always work out as we wish it would.  In five months she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and named her Rachael.  Bryce came to see the baby and he and Carrie agreed on a visitation schedule.  Carrie still maintained hope that he would realize what alcohol had cost him and get help.
    For the next sixteen years, Bryce continued to abuse alcohol.  He maintained a strained relationship with his daughter.  Both he and Carrie dated others but neither ever married.  They sustained a civil relationship with each other for their daughter's sake.
    Then, in 1998, Bryce's world began to fall apart.  After several arrests for driving under the influence, the court  gave him the option of either going to jail or to a rehabilitation program.  He chose rehab because it sounded like an easier option.  He had no intention of quitting drinking because he was in denial of his alcoholism.
    The court sent him to a year long, intensive inpatient program.  Bryce had been under the assumption that rehab would be easier than jail but he quickly found out how wrong he had been.  The program required the resident's to obtain full time employment; to complete daily chores in the house and to attend daily Alcoholic Anonymous meetings.  They were also required to attend classes at the program and weekly meetings with their house counselors.  The residents were woken at six o'clock in the morning and rarely got to bed before midnight.  After a few weeks of this schedule, Bryce came out of his state of denial and realized that he was an alcoholic.
    After a month at the program, Bryce was allowed to have family visits.  Carrie convinced their daughter Rachael to give her father a chance and they set up a visit with him.  The positive changes in Bryce were already becoming apparent.  He was so happy to see Carrie and Rachael that he cried ass he hugged them.  They were able to set up family counseling sessions with Bryce's house counselor.  Many issues were brought out in these sessions and tears were shed by all when discussing how Bryce's alcoholism had affected his family.
    after three months in the program, Bryce was allowed to leave the program for weekend visits at home.  Carrie was beginning to see the good person that she knew Bryce to be emerge the longer he was sober.  Rachael still had much resentment and was finding it hard to forgive her father.  Carrie urged her to be honest with her father and let him know how she was feeling.  after a long, honest discussion with her dad, Rachael began to realize that he had a disease that had caused his past behavior.  She realized that he was a flawed human being but with time the two of them could build a healthy relationship.  The more time Carrie and Bryce spent together, the more they realized that they were falling in love again but in a new way.
    Bryce graduated from the rehab program in a year and moved in with Carrie and Rachael.  He continued to grow and change for the better by attending daily AA meetings and working on himself.  After being sober for two years he presented Carrie with a diamond engagement ring, told her that he didn't want to live without her ever again and asked her to be his wife.  Carrie had waited for this moment for so many years that she burst into tears and said yes to his proposal.
    Six years later they were married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony under a flower covered gazebo.  Their daughter served as her mom's maid of honor.  They exchanged romantic vows that each had written.  Their vows had a special significance for them because they knew that they had been given a second chance to love each other.  They celebrated their marriage with a romantic honeymoon at Ceaser's Palace in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.  Their honeymoon suite included a heart shaped hot tub which they surrounded with candles.  They spent their days horseback riding, hiking, boating and swimming.  Their night were spent in each other's arms.
    Bryce and Carrie have now been married for ten years and each day is better than the one before.  They both realize that the hardships they endured while apart make them appreciate being together so much more.  when the took the vow, "Till death do us part", they knew that they would truly be together for the rest of their lives.