Karen Mackenzie
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 19, 2007

NUNAVUT - One beer became two, five nights a week became seven and 20 years passed in the blink of an eye before Celestino Ulinierk learned to say no to the bottle.

"When you get into booze, like I found out, it's really hard to get out of it. All your friends end up being from the drinking establishments where you normally go to," he said.

"You might say, 'Oh I'm not going tonight because of this big hangover,' but then at 12 o'clock you're like, 'Oh I better go.'"

As his blurry evenings turned into days, work and family were put on the backburner.

Bar tabs burned a big hole in his pocketbook, as he spent up to $400 a week on booze, he remembered.

Then, seven years ago this month, Ulinierk woke up and decided to turn things around.

"At some point you have to set your mind to say 'taima' (stop)" he said. "One day I decided I felt bad. It had been over 20 years, and it was time to say no."

The Iqaluit resident and local electrician was willing to share his story with News/North, but he declined to have his picture taken.

He said he finds it difficult to pinpoint what, exactly, made him want to change his life - and the path wasn't an easy one.

Within days of turning his back on the bar, people came out of the woodwork to entice him back with promises of free drinks at the Legion, he recalled.

"There are people out there in this world ... and they want to make sure you don't stop, and they want to take you out," he said.

But Ulinierk, who was born around Iglulik, persevered.

He didn't go to Alcoholics Anonymous or rehab, though. It was a matter of prayer and learning to take ownership of his own life, he said.

"I think that the biggest problem is while you're stuck into booze or anything else, you're waiting for other people to change so you can eventually change. I found out that other people don't have to change, it's you who has to change, it's you that's got to quit," Ulinierk said.

His children and family, especially his brothers and sisters, seem to be happier "because when they are coming through (to visit) I see them now," he said.

And while he admits he does take an occasional beer, he fills his time with other things, like family, hockey and work.

"There will be things that'll make you want to go to drinking, but you have to stay out of it, so you won't go back," he said.

"It's not easy trying to stay away from what you went through for so long. But in the morning I'm happier. I don't have to find excuses not to go to work."