How one Naples man rebuilt his relationship after an addiction

Andrew Eason and Angela Albrect don’t have a fairytale type of love story. They actually even divorced for awhile.

The reason for their split – Eason’s alcohol addiction. “She was better off without me until I was better,” Eason admits.

Albrect understood that she couldn’t help Eason until he wanted to help himself, “You can’t fix it for them the person going through the addiction you can’t fix it.”

But in 2017, Albrect knew she had to do something to help the man she loved.

“I had a withdrawal-induced seizure and I died,” Eason said through tears. “I woke up in the hospital 16 days later, 10 or 12 IVs, delusional and I don’t remember any of it.”

Eason eventually ended up in jail.

“Didn’t take long after that for the consequences to get pretty bad,” he said.

And while Albrect was very upset about the entire situation, she took him to Saint Matthew’s House to get him the help he needed. She found Saint Matthew’s House – Justin’s Place while Eason was incarcerated. And luckily, he got that help.

“It’s neat to see how everything starts coming back together,” Eason said.

And while his recovery has also immensely improved their relationship, it literally took his life to get there. “Our relationship and I had to die to be reborn and to grow into something all-new,” Eason now understands.

And becoming a new man with a new relationship he decided to take it to the next level – again. He asked Angela to remarry him this year and she accepted. “We’re gonna get married November the 21st at Delnor-Wiggins,” Eason declared.

Their friends from Saint Matthew’s House plan to cater the wedding and of course, attend.

Eason also now works at Saint Matthew’s House. “I’m working here where it started it just makes the evidence so much clearer as we continue to have reason to postpone,” he said.

Eason and Albrect’s story, while not unique, gives hope to those who are struggling with addiction and to their loved ones that so badly want to help them.

“If they can get the help and become the person that they really are then there is hope,” Albrect reminds us.