This past week I was given the opportunity to be part of a discussion about steering a friend of a friend in to a drug treatment program. I’ve been in a few situations like that but this was a bit different than usual because this involves someone I barely know. I only know him as an active addict, while everyone else there knows the man he was before using crystal methamphetamine.
So, before I get started on this story, here is some background information. I play softball and travel on a national level to compete. There is a Softball World Series, but this is for fun and I don’t get paid…a cent. I’ve also been playing since 1989, and every year I’ve played, including a few years drinking, I’ve had the privilege to go with my team or as a pick up player on another team. More cases then not, thankfully, the team I’ve gone with has done extremely well. Last year, I competed in softball, but I also a rider in the AIDS LifeCycle Ride. This is a 545, 7 Day bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We sleep in a tent each night. The training is long, but it prepares you for the ride. This year, I decided to do neither. I’ve never just taken a year off to hang out. It’s tough for me, and I found myself helping a team.
This is how I was introduced to the active addict I mentioned in my opening paragraph. The second I saw him, listened to him, and got to know ‘him’ I knew he was on meth and had been for a while. He was unfocused, wouldn’t look me in the eye, and kept talking about specific, non-related topics.
So, the team placed first and they we are bound for the Softball World Series and he wants to go. Typically this would be great, but he frequently doesn’t show up for games and practices. He also, tends to run late and the team, or at least his close friends on team, focus on his absence and if he is okay. This past Sunday was no exception to that. He just didn’t show up. He sent a text message an hour after the game and said that his roommate, who is also on the team, must have thought he left already because the roommate didn’t wake him in time.
After the team’s latest win (we have to complete the season even though we’ve taken first), we had a sit down with the entire team. We are all worried about him as a friend, and we are all worried he will be a distraction at the Series too.
Stay tuned for Part 2 – The Pieces Come Together
Recovery Rob BIO
Recovery Rob is a 48-year-old man who has more than twenty years of sobriety, whose drugs of choice at one time were alcohol and drugs, and he has worked in and around the field of addiction for more than 20 years. Having just recently launched his own website, www.askrecoveryrob.com, he hopes to reach out and continue to help others who work through their process of addiction and recovery. Recovery Rob is a professional writer who has published two novels and is currently working on his third. He has been writing and working as Pat Moore Foundation’s premiere blogger and content writer, which helps keeps Pat Moore Foundation’s addiction and recovery blog top-rated.