Editorial here At 18, Junkers bought a house. He had a girlfriend and a good job. His drinking, though, started controlling him more and more. Soon he only concentrated on getting to that next drink. Due to the carelessness and negative behavior that came with his escalating drinking, he lost the house and his girlfriend left him. Junkers then started going out more to drink. He received his first DUI shortly thereafter, his second 11 months after his first. Even though he had lost his house and his girlfriend and had mounting legal problems, all due to his drinking, Junkers denied there was any significant problem. “I thought, ‘Don’t drive anymore.’ Other than that, I thought my life was pretty functional,” Junkers says. His lawyer suggested he go through treatment, so Junkers tried New Perspectives. “I didn’t take it seriously,” Junkers says. After he failed urine screenings and skipped several meetings, Junkers got a call from Woods who told him to be at the next meeting or he’d be out of the program. Junkers hung up, walked across the street to a liquor store, bought three liquor shooters, poured them into a soda and drank it. Shortly thereafter, predictably, Junkers picked up his third DUI. He was no longer in denial. “I was crying in front of the judge. I walked out and talked to my sister. Personally, I didn’t think I could stop drinking. I thought I would die quitting,” Junkers says. His sister gave him the support he needed to walk back into court and be accountable for his actions. In order for Junkers to return to New Perspectives, he had to show Woods that he would put forward his best effort. Woods gave him another chance and Junkers has not had alcohol since. editorial here Cunning, baffling, powerful Junkers was born in Hawaii, but has lived in Richfield since he was in fourth grade. His father, who was an alcoholic, passed away when Junkers was 16. His mother worked and took care of Junkers and three more children all on her own. “I had free rein to run around and do as I please,” Junkers says of his childhood. He started smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol in high school. Though he says he always told himself he would never turn out like his father, Junkers began drinking at home every night.
“Without Mr. Woods and his honesty, I don’t think I would have ever made it through here.” -James Junkers, New Perspectives former client
The individual he points to most, though, is Woods. “He’s such a big part of my life. I like everything about him,” Junkers says. “Without Mr. Woods and his honesty, I don’t think I would have ever made it through here.” 51 Tough love “My family started stepping in. I can’t thank them enough. They showed me some tough love,” Junkers says, adding that his sister is essentially his best friend, and she stopped talking to him. “She had enough of worrying and crying over me. We stopped talking for about six months. Then I went to court.” He is thankful for his immediate family, but also for the other clients who were in the group meetings. Junkers and the other clients formed a close-knit network. They would go out to dinner and support one another. “We were pretty much brothers,” Junkers says.
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