There were probably 50 of us on that bus and I was wondering what had become of the others. Were any of them still alive after all these years? Or clean? Or free?
Had they given up drugs and gone on to lead productive lives. Had they spent - like I did - years going in and out of insititutions because of their drug habits? Of course that's an answer I'll never have because I didn't know most of the prisoners on that bus anyway. And I've been out of that life for almost 26 years.
But once in a while I'll get a message about or from someone from the old days. Most them continued their habits, going in an out of jails and prisons for a number of years.
Some of them stayed out, but remained addicted to methadone or alcohol the remainder of their lives.
I'm reminded of this because I've gotten calls or texts from a few people I knew from those days in the past few months. I'm not sure why they call because unless they're in recovery there's not much to talk about. I haven’t talked to any of them more than once. Which kind of gives me an idea that they're still in the game. Who knows?
The reality is that I live a blessed life today for one simple reason: I surrendered and gave up my addiction. And while I wish them well, I know that I really have nothing to share with them other than memories of when times were really ugly.
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