The following is an excerpt from my recently released book, “Behind the Dumpster — A story of a son’s addiction, a father’s love and a bike ride.”
“As the story unfolded, it turned out that Brandon had spent about two weeks in the halfway house before he was kicked out for using drugs again. Once he lost the comfort of the halfway house, he had nowhere else to go. Brandon ended up spending the rest of the summer and part of that fall before he was arrested homeless, living on the street.
Brandon was living near a dumpster behind a strip mall about two miles from where he grew up. The homeless chapter of his story came to an end when he was arrested very early on a Sunday after the local police received a call about a suspicious person as he sat on a park bench at five in the morning. He was arrested because of his open warrant for skipping his court dates.
While Brandon may never look upon his being arrested as divine intervention, I can only imagine the path his life could have taken had he not been arrested when he was. The arrest enabled his secret to come out, his story to go public, and the people who loved him the most to finally be aware of how serious his problems were.
Brandon was heading to jail. Until then, he was seriously addicted and had nowhere to go. Were it not for his sister being in town to start this chain of events to rescue him, he may never have had the opportunity that love and family offered him. We are lucky and very fortunate that he was arrested. ”
Behind the Dumpster is a story of adversity, love, and the gift of clarity. It reveals the pain of my real life encounter with addiction and how I somehow managed to discover a gift that changed my life forever. Behind the Dumpster is honest, revealing, and inspiring. It is a story that hurts while bringing harsh reality to the painful experiences and lessons of addiction in the lives of those we love. It is also a celebration as I share the joy that comes with finding opportunity in the midst of life’s worst experiences. It is my story. I am here to share it, hoping that you will find inspiration and guidance from it.
