Michigan Connects

Derek has 1 year sober!!

Jacob Akers (AKA Boogie), a friend and co-worker, has accomplished a lot lately. He celebrated 2 years of recovery in February and recently started a non-profit called Brick by Brick Recovery, along with 3 other friends. But none of that compares to what he accomplished last week: he gained full custody of his daughter. Seeing him with his daughter last week was a beautiful thing, especially for me since she is the same age as my daughter. Not many things in life are as special as seeing a father in recovery not only get in his daughter’s life, but to become a full time dad. It is another example of what recovery can do. This probably seemed impossible to him a few years ago but here we are 🙏

I have 6 years sober today! Lately, I’ve been thinking about what I would tell myself if I could go back in time and talk to that boy on the left, the nights I spent alone in my cell at Wolverine Secure Treatment Center. The nights when I thought of ways I could end my suffering and how God could turn his eyes away. I had so much anger in my heart. What would I tell my younger self to convince him that things were gonna be okay someday? That things weren’t gonna get better for a while, but that someday all the pain would be used for good?

I remember being up all night on a bender, when 6 or 7 AM came and people were getting ready to go to work while I was taking my last hits, it was the most depressing feeling. You feel like you are living in a different dimension than “normal” people.