Down, but not out!!!

I grew up in trucking spending summers on the road with my dad as far back as I can remember. I learned to drive the a tractor trailer at a pretty young age on the gravel roads and two lanes of central KS. My dad was always in the moving & storage industry, but when I ws in high school he started hauling grain throughout the midwest in an effort to spend more time at home. I went to college for a year and worked some odd jobs but was always drawn the industry that allowed my dad to put food on the table. I got married and moved to Omaha, NE and got a job at an Atlas Van Lines Agent and was encouraged to get my CDL. I went straight for a class A and never looked back. Afew months went by and I was getting frustrated because I was a local driver who wanted to hit the open road, but I didn't have any verifiable experience. My dad got back into the moving game with an Arpin Van Lines agent in KC, KS. I filled out the paperwork and my father and I hit the road. A few months later I jumped at the opportunity to run my own truck as a company driver for the same agent. I was young, ####y, thought I knew it all until I got 50 miles out of town on my own and realized I was scared to death. A little while longer went by, and as I built relationships with dispatchers at the corporate headquarters in RI, I found a way to become an O/O! I was still young, but was in a position where I became instantly successful and well known with a pretty good size company. I ran hard, played hard, worked hard. I checked to see if the grass was truly greener on the other side of the fence, but always ended back at Arpin and enjoyed what I did. I tried coming off the road a couple times and despite the household industry falling victim to competion between companies and greed, I still loved my job. I spent most of 2011 working for a Ford dealership and couldn't stop thinking about the open road. I got back out there with the same company and less than a month later I found my self facing DUI charges. (I was in a 4 wheeler, not a semi) It's been a year and a half since that night that changed my life forever. I am a successful car salesman at a small dealership in St. Louis, MO. I spend evenings and weekends with my wife and 2 children, and I am very active with my church. (especially with our churches recovery group) I also daydream of all those moments I cherish of a lifestyle that I was stripped from because of my own mistake. I truly believe I will be given an opportunity to get back behind the wheel. I have learned alot about myself and I realize all the things I took for granted in my youth. I'm not that old! I'm 37 and when I am given the chance to drive again, I know that I will be twice the truck driver I was. Not because of my abilities or opportunities, but because of my appreciation and understanding that driving a truck across country is a huge priviledge and an incredible joy!! Drive safe and Thank you for taking the time to let me introduce myself!