Mason M.
"Recovery is my new way of life"


Usually these Living Proof interviews take place at a diner, coffee shop, or other mundane, neutral location, with no connection to the story of a patient's recovery. However, when I reached out to Mason M., 32 of Ventnor, NJ, he insisted I come to his home. "I want you to see how I am living," he said. Indeed, Mason could demonstrate concrete (and drywall) evidence of his recovery. Living comfortably in a well decorated one-bedroom apartment (with which he credits to his girlfriend), Mason does have much to be proud of nowadays. He could not imagine this life only a short time ago.

"Nineteen months ago I was homeless in Philadelphia; I completely alienated myself from all who care about me, " said Mason. "Today, I'm going out to search for a new house with my wonderful girlfriend, and recovery is my new way of life. There's no way I'm going back to the old way of life."

Mason now works as a chef at Blue Heron Pines Golf Course in Galloway Township, NJ; the annual host of the Seabrook House Foundation Golf Classic. The old way of life involved lying, manipulating, and cheating to satisfy his crack and heroin addiction. Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations from Drexel University, Mason had little trouble mastering the tools of persuasion. He even convinced himself that there was no other life course, but to die from his disease. Until one night, Mason had a dream. The dream, which involved his grandmother, left Mason with a powerful feeling that something bad had happened. A few days later, he found out that she had passed away.

"That was the first evidence of God working in my life," said Mason. "I had so much shame and guilt after that about how I was living." After expressing his feelings in a letter to his parents, Mason found his way to Seabrook House. He would stay for 25 days. The first several were mostly filled with self-doubt and anxiety. "It wasn't until the 14th day in treatment that I realized that I should really start listening to other people and concentrate on working the program."

Today, Mason serves as a chairperson of Sunday night recovery meetings at a development center in Atlantic City, and attends meetings himself on a regular basis. Mason, who always wears his grandmother's ring around his neck in remembrance, attributes much of his newfound perspective on life to her. "My grandmother was the driving force behind me finding out more about myself," said Mason. "She helped me choose life."