Benjamin’s Musings

drug treatment centers

Very sadly, I had a dear friend of mine pass away last week.  He was only 22 years old and quite honestly was too young to die.  They found him in an abandoned warehouse dead from an overdose that they believe was accidental.  Heroin was his drug of choice.  This is Tom’s story.

Tom and I became friends when his family moved into our neighborhood when I was about 10.  We were the type of kids that were always looking for trouble.  We did our share of hanging out and spent nearly all summer every summer together.  As we got older we ditched classes together, talked about girls and hung out and played basketball.  Throughout high school, we both did our share of partying and both experimented with drugs and alcohol.  I found out toward the end of high school that Tom did not just use drugs when we were hanging out, but he was drinking and using lots of drugs to make it through each day.  Mostly he drank beer and smoked pot, although I did know that he used meth a few times and crack cocaine.  After high school, I went away to school, but Tom stayed home to work and help out his family.  I remember one time when I was home from school on break, coming by his house and his dad telling me that he was in a local substance abuse program.  I even made a point of going by to visit him and offer him my support.  Apparently, I didn’t really realize that it was a court ordered substance abuse program.  When I returned back to school, we would talk on occasion and he said he was doing well.  I asked several times if he was staying clean, and his response was always that he was taking it one day at a time.  I always tried to remain encouraging, but each time I returned home, my life was changing for the better and his was changing for the worse. 

On my last visit home I went to visit him at another one of those drug treatment centers, and he swore that this would be his last time in one of these places, and I said well, you are getting to old for this.  He told me that he had been using heroin and had the tracks to prove it.  He had lost about 20 lbs, and looked really sickly, but tried to remain upbeat.  He said he had found God and a better way.  I hugged him, sadly not realizing this was my last conversation with my dear childhood friend.