In the spring of 2010 I was coming out of a dark time, with drug addiction, and an arrest. As part of my first-time offender ‘avoid jail’ program (for which I was very grateful,) I was required to write a two-page, double-spaced essay of ‘How My Arrest Affected My Family and Me.’ So, I began writing about my journey with drugs and completed twenty-two, single-spaced pages. And I wasn’t finished. Not even close. I was past the deadline, but my case manager granted me an extension because she said she’d never read anything like it.
But then my Uncle Ken died. He meant the world to me. And I felt called to write about him. Because my arrest caused me to stop, to really look at myself. And allowed me to be present, and feel love once again.
It was an honor to write it. It is an honor to share it with you.
These are my recollections of my Uncle Ken.
(Fyi, my case manager cried when she read it… and passed me with flying colors.)