Nick was raised by his father and stepmother in Iowa. His mother was in and out of his life, battling her own addiction. His father used alcohol, and Nick’s life at home was often violent and unhappy.
Never feeling like he fit in, Nick began acting out at 13 and 14, using marijuana and then other substances to alleviate the unhappiness he felt. After high school, he joined the Navy for a brief time before heading to college.
In college, Nick and his roommate further experimented with substances: mushrooms and eventually meth. Nick soon dropped out of school. He moved back home and worked a number of jobs he enjoyed, but upon breaking up with his long-term girlfriend, he felt alone and didn’t know how to take care of himself. He cycled through periods of homelessness, periods of recovery, and intensified use of heroin, meth, alcohol, and other substances.
“Working on myself”
After a few stays in a psychiatric facility and feeling like he was existing at rock bottom, Nick entered treatment. Now in recovery, he knows prioritizing his physical and mental health helps him stay sober and feel happy. He’s utilizing Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA).
“Forty-three days ago, I went to treatment. I’ve been to treatment about six times, but this time was different, um…and not only have I been clean, but I really just been working on myself. I’m going to see a therapist. I’m going, I have an IHH worker for my, my mental health and my disability. I’m going, I do a ton of meetings. I’m really involved in twelve step program… But, like, tonight, I’m gonna go to Celebrate Recovery, which is like, uh, recovery-based kinda church service. I don’t have a sponsor. I go to, like, events. We went to a cookout last weekend, um, a few days ago. I’m friends with people in AA and NA, and it's pretty much my whole life, you know.”
“I know I’m gonna do it”
Utilizing suboxone and staying in a sober living facility provides support for Nick to maintain the success he has had thus far in recovery. Forty-three days in, he is excited for the future and confident in his ability to accomplish his goals.
“I hope to have five years clean and be sponsoring guys in AA and NA. I wanna help people. I wanna be at tech college or be finished with it…Do the IT thing or something… I wanna have like, I wanna nice home, you know. I wanna be able to live and not have to ride the bus. I wanna have a vehicle and a license by then again for sure, um…Be independent.”
Being only in his mid-40s, he feels capable of making the rest of his life the way he wishes, helping others and sharing his own story.
“I have a sad story, but, I mean, if I go back out there and use, I mean that's, that's what I have to look forward to, is more of that. And I, I don't, I, you know, I'm really happy and positive right now, but my life has been kind of a shitstorm, but, uh, it's kinda why I wanted to come here today. I wanted to, you know, share that anybody, nobody what you've been through, you know, I'm doing this. Like, I, nothing is going to stop me. And I know I'm gonna do it.”