Back From Tucson
It’s about six o’clock in the morning and I’m just getting back from Tucson. I’ve got a nice hot cup of coffee in the one hand, and my trusty old Samsonite roll-aboard in the other. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am officially off of the clock; well, for a few hours at least. And even though I’m physically and emotionally drained, oddly enough I still feel pumped up at the same time, kind of like I just climbed a mountain. Maybe it’s just a rush of adrenaline after four back to back Comprehensive Addiction and Mental Health Intervention cases. Either way, it’s been an incredibly powerful and logistically challenging week with four lives hopefully changed forever, along the expansive and bumpy road to recovery. Each life with its own individual and unique storyline; filled with all of those incredibly brave, determined, and cautiously optimistic family members who had the courage and faith to follow my professional guidance and direction. So instead of just darting off to my car like I normally do after returning from an assignment, I’m feeling compelled to take just a few extra moments to blog about my experience before I scurry back to the comfort of my own bed.
When you travel all around the country and even across the world working with individuals and their respective families deep within the trenches of severe addiction and mental health crisis situations, people are naturally curious about your background and why you do what you do. Over the past decade, I have tried many times to figure it about myself, especially when things got hot and heavy in the field. The best answer I can come up with is that I don’t think that I actually chose my career path, but rather that I was just pre-wired to help people make it through challenging times. For some reason, it’s in my blood, my DNA and I’ve decided not to question it anymore. This is who I am and I’m proud of the work that I do and dedicated to the families that provide me with the opportunity to help. At the end of the day, it’s kind of like being able to help someone navigate a path to the top of a mammoth mountain in Nepal, balanced out with the reality that you’re just a hard-working Comprehensive Addiction and Mental Health Intervention counselor sitting quietly in front of an airport Dunkin Donuts somewhere in South Florida, looking back on all the unexpected twists and turns, the ups and downs, the deputy sheriffs, the dealers, all the denial, and a whole bunch of the fast-food drive-thru windows.
Well, it’s now going on 6:15AM, my coffee is all gone, and if I don’t get up now I think I might just pass out right here on the floor in front of Dunkin Donuts. After I make a bunch of follow up calls this evening to families waiting for a status report, I think I am going to try to take a few days off before I head back out on my next assignment. Hopefully I’ll be able to take a few days off before I have to head back out on my next assignment…
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