Not to worry about the thread direction!
One just never knows where some of these threads may end up....

It is all good!


Our farm was just about a mile out of a small town with a population of 500.
There was nothing but bean and corn fields between town and us.

After we left the farm,
I had to move into the big town, about 6 miles away~
I am still there, and the population here is about 5,000.

I do run into people that I used with, dealt to, quite often actually.
I also cross paths with the cops, the judge, the attorneys, and swat team members.....

The quiet little farm, during the peak of meth addiction , was busting at the seams....
With people...

...always in way weird places with way weird faces...........

They came from many miles away...
They would come and they would stay.

The tire tracks on that gravel road were ridiculous....

Actually MOST of the people we used with have quit.
Many now drink,
But many are also doing very well.
There is one small group that is sadly still at it....

It is painful for me,
When I see them drive by,
Or I see them parked at certain houses....
The ones that still use avoid me...
But with the others,
There is a deep connection...
We always stop for a moment and inevitably the conversation ends up with something like,
Man you look SO good, or I just CANNOT BELIEVE what we were thinking...
Things like that...

The sheriff always extends his hand to shake mine and says how good I look.
The lady cop who I had to pee in front of every week for a year hugged me everytime she saw me for the first year~
But now we just grin like we have a happy secret.

My self induced rule is that
WHENEVER I cross paths with a former fellow user , or one of their loved ones,
For the first time, I apologize.

I tell them that I am most sincerely sorry for my part in their addiction, or in their son's or daughter's
Or wife's or husband's ..or Mom's or Dad's addiction,
And that if they ever want to talk with me about it, then I will be there to listen.

Kind of like what Once Upon a Time was writing about....

But, it took me at least a year to get to the point where I could walk around town without feeling shame and fear.
I am thankful that my first 6 months of the sobriety that stuck, was in jail.