There is always a sense of humour in the bare fact that after 15 years of working with addicts I am still learning what an alcoholic is. Simply because I never was one, I am fully aware of the fact that I will never be able to know, from the inside, who an alcoholic is. And so, I can sympathize with the spouse or child or parent of an alcoholic. They, too, have no idea, not the slightest at all, who the person living the closest to them is. If you don’t believe me, just come and visit our group for the family members of the addicts in Cluj. There I can see how difficult it is to understand them, though this is absolutely crucial for those who are closely related to the addict.

No wonder Jim* and Joe*, two ex-residents of the Therapy Centre invited George*, a current resident, to spend his free weekend at Jim’s house in his village. George does not have a family anymore, so even if he could get a free weekend to go home from the rehab center, he was wondering where he should go? He has neither a family, nor a home anymore. Imagine what he felt when he saw the nice gesture of Jim, offering him a wonderful chance!

Every day Joe travelled to Jim’s house from the neighbouring city to see them and spend as much time as possible with them, between Thursday and Monday, while George was there “on leave”. On Sunday morning Joe could not catch the bus in time and was too late to go to church with them. Never mind, they told Joe, and took their Bibles and read the passage they had heard in church for Joe. Then they shared with him what had warmed their hearts in the sermon that morning. A pleasant discussion issued from it and they where rejoicing in the mutual encouragement they could get out of it. A repeated worship at home, indeed!

That same night George fell terribly ill. The two friends took him in to hospital. The doctor was completely fascinated, he told us after the operation. There were two gentlemen attending George and looking after him the whole time, (you know George, the alcoholic client from the rehab, don’t you? Of course we know!) treating him like their own brother. Who were they? Well, they were once clients too, we answered.

I heard Jim, the doctor continued, addressing his Roma (Gypsy) friend, in a surprising way: “My brother”, well that is unusual when so many people look down on the Roma people and I knew for sure that they cannot be relatives at all. Three brilliant gentlemen, indeed, smiled the doctor. Well, I knew their secret and yet I still wonder if I will ever understand this mystery!

Levente Horváth, minister

*Not the real names