From the Pits of Hell : to My First Miracle

By Billy Lucious Leineke Jr

This book is a memoir of my struggle with alcoholism and drug abuse. It is a story of a life gone wrong and almost wasted. My search for love and self affirmation through liquor, which turned into my own personal demon.
So many bottles of liquor I can't count. My death and miraculous salvation from the world of alcoholism and drug abuse.
In my story I share many aspects in the evolution of my addiction. Until finally I started bleeding internally and was medically airlifted to a hospital that gave me a chance at living. I lost somewhere near 5 gallons of blood.
Saved by a team of healers in the form of doctors nurses and many others do I owe all my life. My memoir is meant for anyone struggling with addiction or their family and friends.
Furthermore, it is also meant for seekers of God and miracles. My death as it were is a testament to the power of salvation through God and Archangel Raphael. There is hope for all even in the grips of death. Amen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514460122

Billy Lucious Leineke Jr

I was born June 4th 1974 to the parents of Janet Leineke and Bill Leineke Sr. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Metropolitan State College of Denver with a Bachelors of Arts in philosophy in a minor in political science. I grew up in an alcoholic home and was born with the affliction of addiction. Because of my self inflicted tragedy I am a born again Christian. I am only alive today through the grace of God. My pursuits now are of the divine nature in the mysteries of God. My education continues outside of the classroom. I sincerely hope this book will be of service to others who struggle in all forms. Amen.

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Copyright © 2016 by Billy Lucious Leineke Jr.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016902429

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5144-6015-3

                Softcover        978-1-5144-6013-9

                eBook             978-1-5144-6012-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Rev. date: 03/03/216

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Alcohol is one of the most pervasive drugs in our culture today. Notice I used the word drug. This is not a mistake. It is only a mistake if you think of alcohol as being anything other than a drug. It is easy for most people to not classify alcohol as a drug. It's legal for one. Drugs are illegal in the United States, alcohol is not. Logic would dictate therefore that alcohol is not a drug. What qualifies as a drug? In the United States drugs are defined by law and politics not biology, chemistry nor physiology.

If a mind altering substance is consumed after a certain age does the legality of the act make the substance not a drug? In our present society the answer is answered in the affirmative. Most people view alcohol not as a drug, such as marijuana, cocaine, or heroin. Rather it is seen as a culturally accepted practice. With all of the negative consequences that the alcoholic affliction brings not only to the individual but to society as well one must ask; is the acceptance of the perception that because alcohol is culturally accepted and legal, it is somehow safer than illegal drugs a question we need to re-examine?

The damage caused by drinking in the United States is too wide ranging for it to be given such a free pass, especially in light of how other drugs are treated in our society. Physically alcohol has devastating effects on an individual. The health problems of drinking are enormous. Drinking can kill a person in many different ways as it has an effect on almost every organ in the human body. The Liver, esophagus, gall bladder, stomach, pancreas, the brain and central nervous system (CNS) are all injured when drinking excessively. It doesn't take a genius or an M.D. to understand the impact that severe damage to any one or multiples of these organs can have on a person's health. Damaging or destroying any of these organs results in very poor health and or death.

With all of this having been said, I feel it is safe to say that everyone in our society has felt the negative effects of alcoholism in some capacity or another. In almost every conversation I have with people whom I choose to share any part of my story with, am I almost always guaranteed a reciprocal personal story of their own. Either of a family member, friend or often themselves have felt the affliction that is alcoholism. The suffering that the disease causes cuts across all demographics in society. It is not a prejudiced disease, it harms peoples of all skin color, ethnicity, gender, age, occupation and social status. It is an equal opportunity killer.

My drinking brought me ruined relationships, lost career opportunities, financial destitution, incarceration and overall destruction. Eventually it brought me to death. Considering all of the destruction that the alcoholic person brings not to their own lives but to the lives of others is it no surprise that some feel little or no sympathy for the drunk that ends up having their lives cut short. Good riddance, some who harbor resentments toward the alcoholic, might say. I don't necessarily begrudge them.

I fortunately was saved. The good Lord, which is the only Lord, took pity on me. This pity was found and manifested through the spirit of all the people with the skill, education, professionalism, intellect and calling to be God's healers who saved my life. I was with my mother, the nurses, doctors, helicopter pilots, staff, lab technicians who helped save my life. I did not make their job easy. Quite the contrary, there was so much effort put forth by so many medical professionals that I am humbled and pray that I may somehow be worthy of the second chance at life I have been given. I owe my life to them.

My story of gratitude towards their work I hope is just beginning. I will never be able to directly pay them all back in the Karmic debt I owe to them. I can however pay it forward. This is short memoir is the beginning of such payment. I pray that God bless all involved in helping me live. I also pray that their efforts not be put to waste. Thank you, Amen.

I had my first drink around the age of thirteen; my father, his siblings, and some friends of theirs were having a fire in the backyard. As they caught a glow, my uncle thought I should have a beer. Everyone was in agreement, so they gave me a beer; it tasted terrible but had no perceived effect on me. Everyone seemed quietly disappointed; I guess they wanted me to be stumbling and rambling; there would be more than enough of that later in life. While I didn't enjoy that beer, it was from this point on that my alcoholism started.

I know that sounds crazy to many people. How the hell do you become an alcoholic after one drink? Well, the simple truth is alcoholism is a disease. Science and the medical community have agreed on this. I know from my own experience that this is true. Being an alcoholic and having alcoholism on my father's side of the family, I have lived through this horrible affliction, and I can honestly say that I was born with this disease. Many non-alcoholics will still try to argue about this or that and why it's not a disease but merely a matter of willpower, blah, blah, blah. I am not here to argue about this point; I know. I have no incentive to lie, I am not awaiting a court hearing, and I am not asking for sympathy, compassion, or mercy---only an open-minded reader.

I wrote this memoir for multiple reasons, one of which was for my own personal therapy. I also feel compelled to tell my story as I believe it needs to be heard. I believe that my story is an opportunity for me to help not only those afflicted with the nightmare that alcoholism is but also those facing death. Real, tangible death by massive trauma, a situation you might, unfortunately, find yourself or a loved one suddenly being thrust into.

I grew up in a small town as a child. Two of my friends and I worked at a local gas station/party store. We were all in our mid-teens, high school ages of around fifteen to sixteen when our group of friends collectively stepped into a Rite of passage together. Drinking beer and becoming men. Access to alcohol was never a problem for us, we had it in abundance. It was common place, almost a nightly occurrence that we would get alcohol and either have a poker game or a bon-fire.

Our drinking and partying behavior continued for a couple of years, I would say all the way through the middle of high school, as I remember getting drunk on the way to a high school sporting event or party. We almost always got alcohol for the weekends and would go booze cruising. An antiquated notion today, as it should be. If we could not get the alcohol ourselves, there was always a willing person of age around somewhere.

We of course had summers off and would sneak beer back to my friend's house, where we would start a bonfire. Having only one parent to contend with at this house made it easy to hide our actions as teenagers hanging out by the fire. Innocent enough. Eventually, we all got different jobs outside of our small town and its convenience store, but we still always hung out together.

As high school progressed, I found more party friends. That's the thing about addicts---we always seem to find one another. I can often just look at a person or talk to them for a minute and tell you if they are using anything and what they are using. Having acquired new friends to party with also brought about new ways to alter my state of mind, drugs.

It was in my freshman year