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Chapter #1 the Beginning
My personal beginning started at birth. On Thursday June 24, 1965 at 7:30PM. St. Elizabeth Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. I want to inform all of you that my mother was 21 years old during that time. My father’s information is not available. The only thing that I can say is that I was created through a one night stand.

Next, I remember when my mother told me that my father was older than her. I supposed that my existence came all of a sudden. I was born in Dayton, Ohio. I remember during that time that Dayton, Ohio was very popular when it came to music. Although Detroit, Michigan had Motown Records. I remember when my mother used to take me to church all of the time.

Further, I also recall spending a lot of time with my grandmothers. I was blessed to see two grandmothers and two grandfathers. I was a blessed child. The church that I was a member of was Bethel Church of God in Christ, which was located on Germantown Street in Dayton, Ohio. I remember when my grandmother told me that I was baptized when I was six months old.
Moreover, it was very nice during that time because my grandparents were working full time at the Pine Club Restaurant; located on Brown Street in Dayton, Ohio. I recall going to work with my grandmother for a few years. I want to inform all of you that I was a year old during that time when my Great Grandmother used to take me to church with her. I met all of the Deacons of the church as well as the Pastor at the church.

In Addition, I will admit that my first few years, I had spent at my grandmother’s house in West Dayton, Ohio. My grandmother lived inside of a very quiet neighborhood. My grandmother was always working just to pay the bills inside of the house. The first seven years of my life consisted of spending time with my cousins and aunt. My aunt worked during that time as well.
Also, my elders of the house were always busy. The 1970s were very interesting to all of those who used to have a musical talent. My family was small at that time. This is also the time I used to get into fist fights with other kids my age. I guess they used to pick on me because I was a very small young man during that time.
However, there were times when I used to run away from home. There were children that picked on me because I was smaller than they were. There were kids in my age group that were larger than me. I want to say that; the first seven years were very nice.

Edison Elementary School in Dayton, Ohio’s West Dayton was a very large school. I remember when I was 4 years old, I was in the Pre- Kindergarten, and I had teachers who could not handle me because I was very hyperactive during that time. One thing that my grandparents used to do; was take me to church with them. I recall having teachers who were very understanding towards all of us. I know that my mother had other children by her husband.
Edison Elementary School was located on 228 North Broadway Avenue in Dayton, Ohio 45407. I knew the address because my mother used to read to all of us as children. My grandparents used to read to me as well. I remember when my mother was gifted educationally because she graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1961. My mother used to help my Uncle with his homework, and he graduated from Dunbar High School in 1960.

My cousins were gifted in school. They were earning As and Bs in school. I remember earning all Cs in school. I know that I could not stand math in school. I did very well in other classes except math. My math teachers were very understanding and very genuine. I used to have problems doing algebra in school. I had a problem completing word problems as well.
As a result, I ended up earning all average grades in school. I do recall earning above average grades in Science and Social Studies. I had a lot of fun during that time. I did very well in English classes in school. I do recall attending Summer School when I was in the 4th grade and 7th grade.
Yet, I still had problems dealing with word problems in math. I read everything the proper way, but I still got the answers wrong on the test. My sisters were very intelligent in school. The 1970s were challenging for me because I had to transfer to a school that was 8 miles from me in 1977.

They started sending African American children to schools inside of European American neighborhoods in 1976. It was not very easy because I remember getting called names because of my color of my skin during that time. After all, I got along well with everyone except for a few students, who lived across the bridge from me. I do remember going to the neighborhood laundry mat, which was located on Riverview and Williams Street in Dayton, Ohio. It was less than a half a mile from my grandmother’s house.
At the same time, I was very nervous going inside of that neighborhood because of the street gangs that we had in the city of Dayton, Ohio.

How Do We Teach Our Children How To Obey God?

        This is an essay that ask a very important question.  How do we teach our children how to obey God?  According to Deuteronomy 6:7 says: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  This means our primary emphasis is to teach our children how to love the Lord God.

        This also means that we are supposed to love the Lord with all of thy heart, soul, mind, and strength.  When it comes to teaching our children about the Bible, they learn by watching their parents.  If the parents are reading the Bible to their children, teaching their children how to pray, and taking them to church all of the time, and conducting themselves like a true Christian, then a child will never forget about the Lord.  According to proverbs 22:6 says: Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he gets old, he will not depart from it.

        I remember when I was growing up in the Dayton, Ohio Area from 1970-1990.  I attended church with my grandmothers on a regular basis.  My Great Grandmother indicated that she was taking me to church, so that I can grow up and be a real man.  She read the Bible to me on a regular basis.  I attended Bethel Church of God in Christ in Dayton, Ohio.  My Great Grandmother stated to me that she was raising me because my mother suffered from postpartum depression.  This is a mental illness that affects pregnant mothers worldwide.  My mother made a decision to take me to my Grandmother’s house and I had a lot of fun.

        At first, I did not understand what was going on with my mother at that time.  I went through a lot of changes myself because on May 30, 1972, I went to live with my mother and afterwards, I started drinking and smoking marijuana at the age of 7 years old.  However, I was born with alcohol inside of my bloodstream because my mother was drinking alcohol during that time.  My mother was also responsible for taking me to church on a regular basis herself.  One mistake that my mother made was trying to change my name.  My birth name is Anthony Joseph Hopkins.  She changed my name because she was married to a man that was not my own biological father. 

        I had to make changes to my own school records because I told my school counselor that the name that I was using Anthony Joseph Russell was not my real name.  I officially changed my name because it did not make sense what my mother had done to me as a person.  My own mother tried to alter my identity.  I have forgiven my mother for what she had done to me.  I will admit that I felt ashamed about having that name.  I used to examine my birth certificate and social security card and say to myself, why did Mom do this to me? 

        I have read the Bible over and over for the past 40 years.  I have always wondered why all of the bad things happened to me as a person.  My own stepfather stabbed me when I was a senior in high school.  I had to protect my own little brother on November 25, 1985.  If I didn’t put my arm in the way shielding my little brother, he would have been dead.  Therefore, I got stabbed with a hook knife.  To be perfectly honest, I almost bled to death from my injuries. 

        I will admit that there are things that I had done to my own mother and stepfather when I was much younger.  Like they say in Ephesians 6:1, Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.  There are times when I was a child that I even resented my own stepfather.  I even got into a fist fight with him immediately after he stabbed me with the hook knife that he had in his possession at the time.  There are times when I have actual flashbacks from the things that I had to endure in my personal life. 

        Finally, I am very sorry for mentioning all of this, but I have to tell the truth.  My name is Anthony Joseph Hopkins, and I am a 58 year old man from Dayton, Ohio.  I used to live in Charlotte, NC for 12 years.  I have been incarcerated a total of 26 times within the past 21 years.  I graduated from the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio on June 12, 1993 and June 17, 1995 respectively.  There are times when I meditate about the past and there are times when my own family members argue with me about the past.  God loves me and this is all that matters to me right now.  I have come a very long way in my personal life. 

Step #1.  We Admit That We Were Powerless Over Alcohol that Our Lives Have Been Unmanageable.

What Does the Disease of Addiction Mean to Me?

Addiction means that we have a problem that we cannot fix on our own.  This means that we are so powerless over alcohol that my addiction means that I cannot stop drinking unless I have God to solve the problem for me.  I was born with alcohol inside of my bloodstream as a child.  My mother ended up suffering from Post-Partum Depression for the first two years of my existence.  I was raised by my grandparents because my mother at the time was not able to take care of me.

Next, I was born addicted to alcohol and this is very serious to me personally because I could have died at birth.  Anyway, my name is Anthony Joseph Hopkins and I was born on Thursday June 24, 1965 at 7:30PM.  I was born at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio.  I know that my life has spiraled upside down because I was confused about my actual birthfather.  I know that I have been thinking about my biological father all of these years.

Further, I know that I am starting all over because it enables me to fully understand the 12 Steps of AA Recovery.  I know that I am a 58-year-old man who has a lot of common sense.  I am a man who is very intelligent, educated, smart, and gifted.

 I know that I have a different father compared to my half siblings.  I have heard from my family members that my father is a Caucasian man who was much older than my mother.  I supposed that my mother was looking for security from my father.  I really do not know, but I have to fully grasp the difference between being raised by my grandmother.  I know that it is not very easy for me to continue to live without having all of my issues resolved.

Moreover, I know that I started drinking alcohol when I was seven years old.  I remember when my mother used to take me to Bootleg Joints and she used to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes.  I know that I started drinking at an early age because my mother used to do so much for me.

In Addition, I know that my life as an alcoholic started in the year of 1972.  I know that my life has messed up because I have been trying to actively find my biological father throughout the years.  I always wanted to find out who he was personally.  Anyway, my cousin and I took a drink from the can of Miller’s Beer in 1972.  My mother told me not to drink it.  What she did not know is that I was receiving alcohol in my milk just to put me to sleep as a child.

Also, I have went through school being abused and beaten up by my so-called fair-weather friends.  I know that members of the opposite sex used to beat me up all of the time.  Frankly, my sister used to beat me up all of the time.

 My sister was much bigger than me.  My other brothers and sisters were small during that time.  My grandmother used to take me to Church all of the time.  I know that my life at that time was completely messed up.  The other children at that time; during the 1970s were very aggressive.  I used to drink alcohol with my friends just to fit in with them. 

How has my disease affected me Physically? Mentally? Spiritually? Financially?  My disease of alcoholism has affected me physically because I ended up catching tuberculosis at an early age.  I remember when I was around my mother’s husband at the time, and all of a sudden, I got sick.  I know that I was 11 years old when I had tuberculosis for 9 years.

 I had to go to the hospital every 3 months for breathing treatments.  I also know that I had to take medication for TB as well.  I know that my entire family was sick.  My mother’s husband was not allowed to visit my grandparents at their house.  I was throwing up all of the time.  I could not breathe.  I could not visit my mother for three years.  I know that I was mentally messed up as well because I was dazed and confused.  I know that my mother told me to my face that I had to avoid playing with my friends for a while.

Spiritually, I was able to attend church with my grandparents and I had to end up sitting in the back of the church in Dayton, Ohio.  God was always with me.  Even though I was already an alcoholic.  I had to be very careful!! 

I could not make the other children sick around me.  God might have been upset with me at first, but my life was getting bad.  On a financial point of view, I was spending all of my money on alcohol from 1977-1990.  During the past 13 years, I was dealing with women who were harlots.  I know that I have made a lot of mistakes having sex without the use of condoms.  I was engaging in risky behavior as an early adult.  I know that my life was messed up.

How Does the Self-Centered part of my disease affect my life and the life of those around me?

I know that my behavior affected all of my family members because I was dealing with the wrong people.  I know that I was hanging around the wrong people.  I was hanging around street gang members in Job Corps in Grand Rapids Michigan.  I want to say that my brothers and sisters did not speak to me for an extended period of time.  I became a negative influence.  I was drinking alcohol all of the time.  I was also smoking marijuana as well.  I know that my family members and I did not speak to me.  My grandparents were very upset that I had been drinking for a number of years.  I officially did not stop drinking and smoking marijuana until 1990.

Perhaps, I was making a fool out of myself for over 30 years.  I really did not make a change in my venue until I went to treatment for drugs and alcohol for 90 days.  I went to the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center from June 1, 1990 to September 1, 1990.  I also relocated to the Toledo, Ohio Area for almost 6 years.  I still went to treatment at an agency called Substance Abuse Services Incorporated in Toledo, Ohio for three years.  I was enrolled in Day Treatment during that time.

Finally, I attended the University of Toledo from 1991 through 1996.  I graduated from college twice.  I received my Associates Degree in Social Services Technology from the University of Toledo Scott Park Campus.  I also spent another two years at the University of Toledo Main Campus.  I received my Bachelors of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.  I also had to spend a lot of time living inside of a Crack House in North Toledo from 1991 through 1994.  I was working two jobs and attending school at the same time.  I ended up relocating further in North West Toledo from 1994 through 1996.  I was living inside of a decent neighborhood.  Even though one of my close friends died in 1995.

In Conclusion, I relocated back to the Dayton, Ohio Area for one year.  I was living with my relatives for a certain period of time.  I was working at Kroger Grocery Store in Fairborn, Ohio for one year.  Afterwards, I moved to the Charlotte, NC Area for 12 years.  I was living inside of a homeless shelter for 8 months.  I was working at the First Citizens Bank in Charlotte, NC.  The Bank was located on Sugar Creek Rd and I-85.

 I worked at the bank for almost a year.  I was attending AA Meetings on a regular basis.  I started working at the United States Census Bureau for only 9 months in the year 2000.  I ended up going back home for three months.

I moved back to the Charlotte, NC Area and I was working several jobs until I ended up working at UNCC in the University City Area for 8 years.  I ended up losing my job because I got scammed out of $16,977 dollars in Western Union Funds.  I had to go back to Ohio in 2010.  I have been here ever since.  I have been living in the Dayton, Ohio Area for 14 years now.  Things have changed since then.  My family members died during a 7-year period.  I have been clean and sober for a total of 33 years now.  I have been taking it easy and I have been traveling for a period of time as well. 

We’ve all heard of the debate regarding male brains versus female brains, but the truth of the matter is that we carry traits that correlate with both sexes, regardless of whether we are male or female ourselves. How far does your brain makeup lean toward the opposite gender? We will give you the percentages when you complete our test! 50% Male, 50 % Female You are the absolute definition of a stable mind. The life you lead is well balanced, productive and happy. You think about your actions before you do them, but you don’t let it control your life. You know that life cannot be fully planned, but you do try to have a sense of stability. Share your results with friends to learn more about them! Share Result