On fresh starts

Back in March, I shared a bit of a sad update on my unhoused friends. Cops raided their camp and took everything they owned. Within the week… Mike had relapsed Manny got arrested for stealing copper Ron was all by himself But last Friday, I got an amazing phone call from Mike! Sometime over the winter, he checked himself into rehab. He’s several months clean now. He’s doing therapy to address the trauma that’s caused him to use. He’s in the process of getting a job helping other addicts get clean, too, like the person that helped him. He’s got stable housing. And he just found out he’s going to be a grandfather for the first time, just as he’s finally clean and able to enjoy it and be in his family’s life again. Mike told me that there were a few points this winter where he felt like he couldn’t keep going. It was a brutally cold winter, and I through sheer luck met them the day after they’d ridden out a particularly cold night with no sleeping bags. If you feel comfortable doing so,…