I come from a family of 7 raise by a single mother. I have two older brothers in the bunch. My father passed away when I was two years old. Life was not the greatest for me growing up, since my oldest brother decided that he would become the man-of-the-house; so to speak. Anything small that I did, I got a beating for and wasn't really much my mother would do about it, considering the consequences. As time went on my oldest brother chose a life and was not one you could look up to. So I began doing the same things. I had to go to work because I flunked out of school. It came time for me to move out of the house and constantly moving around from place to place to keep a roof over my head. Everyone else had moved out of the house and began a normal life for themselves but me. 

My mother had moved to Texas and has been living there for about 10 years through that time, I have changed jobs and living arrangements many times. Something was telling me that my mother moved back from Texas and has lived by herself for several years. She has since become physically disabled and she needs someone to move in with her to help her with things that come with everyday life.  That was me; The Prodigal Son. I worked to have finances of my own.  A while later we got a place together with our own bedrooms for more privacy and that didn’t go too bad. We moved into a single home that had a nice back yard. We grew our own veggies and we both took care of it together.  We became more than just mother and son but, roommates, best friends. I confided in her, she was my everything. We even went to church together; her church of course. Time passed and the drugs and alcohol wasn’t needed. I became sober for about a year and a half I was out for the morning and early afternoon running errands and I when I got home she was sitting in her chair complaining that her ankle was hurting. I asked her what happened she explained that she was walking from the kitchen, her foot turned that wrong way and she fell but was able to get in to her chair. I asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital and she said, yes. So I took her to the hospital. After she was examined the doctor said that she would need a operation but her blood was to thin so they couldn’t perform it then so they admitted her. About four days later she passed away due to kidney failure. 

After the funeral, I moved out of the house into a smaller one trying to stay strong because that  was what she would have wanted. Everything is good for about a month and a half. Then reality set in and my life goes downhill from there. I became angry. I felt that everything was taken from me and I soon turned back to drugs and alcohol. I ended up loosing my home, job and car all within one week.  I knew a few homeless people and they invite me to their camp. Everyone in the camp drank and drugged like it was normal. My past came back to haunt me and I sometimes became violent. No one dared mess with me as if I were the devil himself or his right-hand-man.  On the other hand I also knew people who turned me on to a church that was open three days a week that served breakfast and lunch. It was Christian based and I didn’t really care for that at the time because God took my mom away from me.  Over time I stopped going there just for the food but started going there because of the Christian teaching.  The sight manager and other volunteers I feel were afraid of me but eventually turned me around to a positive direction toward Christ. Not only did I turn around but things started to take a turn for the good in my life as well.

One day I was walking up Rt. 40 to a side job that I found and my oldest sister was driving down the road and we crossed paths.  She pulls over, gets out of the car and starts running towards me and yelling my name.  We embraced each other as she tells me that everyone was worried about me. A few days later, she and her new husband took me in.  Because of my wrong choices in the past, I am now on disability. I continued making wrong choices while at my sisters and had a conflict with my brother-in-law and was kicked out of the house. 

After that I got back in touch with the church that feeds the needy and attended on a regular basis for food and Christian fellowship. With a lot of help from them, I got back on my feet and have a secure income and a “nice” place of my own. Soon I will have my own vehicle. 

I have a lot going for me now.  I no longer drink and drug. I live a better life. The group of volunteers that help FCCAU have become my mentors and that is something that I have never had. I can say that FCCAU and their staff is responsible for showing me God and that there is a very good person inside of me, that needed to come out. I enjoy the values that I practice now and I never thought I had. The staff at FCCAU and all the volunteers are the greatest people.  They see what’s inside of a person and says that, “you can do it”. 

God I now know that you are taking very good care of my mother and I have to thank you for all that you have done and can do in my life and everyone else that accepts you. 

God, Dad, Mom, see you on the other side.

John