“Drinking was my central pre-occupation until I was 29.” Jim Cox describes his life before The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center.

“My sole focus was my career. I was not a happy person.” Amanda Cox describes her life before a bright-eyed cook arrived at the kitchen of the bowling alley where she had worked since the age of 14.

Jim was introduced to drugs early. “I was 14 when I tried marijuana for the first time. My mother was anti-drug, cigarettes, everything. My father, who I never knew, had an addiction problem.”

“I was working at a convenience store, going nowhere with my life. Weed destroyed my college ambition.” Jim’s drinking increased after high school as he bounced between Cape Cod and Quincy, unable to hold down a job.

“Problems don’t go away when you drink.”

After several attempts to stay sober, Jim realized the spiritual component was crucial to his recovery. He completed the Adult Rehabilitation Center program in Brockton in 2012.

Employment was a graduation requirement. His past culinary experience led him to Westgate Lanes, a Brockton bowling alley.

Meanwhile, Amanda was a hard-charging, independent career woman. At Stonehill College, she majored in accounting, with double minors in computer information systems and criminal justice. Her ambition led her to receive her Bachelors and Masters Degrees in just five years.

“I never wanted to be dependent on anyone else,” Amanda says.

Although she worked full-time as an accountant for Dell, Amanda filled in shifts at the bowling alley when they needed her.

“Jim was cute, had a good personality and I could talk to him.” After a date to the movies, Jim asked Amanda out on a second date—to church at The Salvation Army.

Two years later, Jim proposed to Amanda in that same chapel while the two led youth programs after school. They were married in April 2015 and are heavily involved with the ministry of The Salvation Army.