An addict never knows for certain whether this time he will stay sober. Bobby is one of those addicts, living at The Men's Center periodically since 1997, trying to keep sobriety as a way of life. Bobby says he is proof that, "It takes what it takes."

Like many alcoholics, Bobby had an alcoholic parent. When Bobby was only two, his dad left his alcoholic mother, taking Bobby and his brother with him. Bobby's mother died from alcoholism at thirty-eight.

Bobby joined the Army at seventeen and became a tactical wire operations specialist. He fell into a routine of drinking with his Army buddies, 3.2 beer at first, and then Very Old Barton bourbon. Soon he had developed a quart a day whiskey habit. He would climb utility poles with a buzz on.

Out of the Army, Bobby signed on as an apprentice baker with a master baker, a drinking master baker. Bobby had found a job with a lifestyle that felt familiar to his army years.

Farther down the road, after two failed marriages and a move to Houston, he worked as a manager for an upscale cookie store, making $1,000 a week and spending $1,400 on his habit. He took personal advances from the cash drawer, always intending to pay them back. Eventually management caught him and tried to get him to join Alcoholics Anonymous and make amends with a payback plan. But whiskey wouldn't let go. He ended up with five years probation.

Bobby was trying to stay sober when he met his third wife. On their wedding day in 1992 she had an appointment to renew her green card, and he had an appointment with his probation officer. He didn't want to tell her about his record, so he skipped the probation appointment.

This marriage followed the same pattern as his first two. His wife put up with his drinking for several years, they had a child, and they argued. During one of their arguments, she called the police. The warrant for breaking probation surfaced, and Bobby received a seven-year sentence. He served two years.

After prison Bobby resumed his gallon a day alcohol habit. In December 1997 a neighbor told him about The Men's Center. It sounded promising, but Bobby still had a half bottle of whiskey and wanted to finish it. The Men's Center sent a ride for him anyway.

Since 1997, Bobby has lived in and out of The Men's Center. Several times he has been homeless. Once he arrived at The Men's Center without the first week's rent, and the General Manager took the funds out of his pocket with the understanding that Bobby repay him. The longest stretch of sobriety Bobby has strung together is seven months. Any trivial incident can set him to drinking again. Today he knows it is his alcoholic mind playing tricks on him, telling him he can handle just one beer or just a pint of whiskey. Sometimes, he confines himself to his room until the urge passes.

But Bobby also knows the only time he has stayed sober is when living at The Men's Center. Every day there he talks about his alcoholic mind, either at a meeting or with other residents.
The only thing that keeps Bobby sober is God, he says. Every night he thanks God for a sober day and asks for another one tomorrow. Plans for the rest of his life? He just wants to be sober. Without sobriety, nothing else matters.

Although our stories are true, names and photos have been changed to preserve anonymity.