Dear Richie,
Honestly, I am at a loss for words. Your generosity has overwhelmed me. I'm in recovery but am still not happy with the man in the mirror if you understand. “I feel totally unworthy but the funds LITERALLY are the only thing keeping me from sleeping under a bridge somewhere”.
I have 6 kids, 5 surviving. I lost Adeline Pearl in infancy, at home. I tried very hard to get her breathing with CPR but having served my country and experienced way too much combat, I knew Adeline was gone from me because when my wife found her she wasn’t blue, she was black. I'm uncomfortable to admit, I performed infant CPR because my wife needed to see me try. Idk if that was a mistake.
I did not recover and felt incredible pain. I was raised to believe mental health, and asking for it, was a sign of weakness. I lost almost a decade self-medicating. By the end. My family was gone. Every single thing I owned was lost. I was in jail. I am an accomplished teacher of 25 years. I hold a Masters and my writing has been published. And none of that mattered. I prioritized the bottle.
I am 4 months sober. I am actually correctly sober, meaning I work AA, and work every day on sobriety. But my entire support system is "done with me". And it’s my fault. I have no help. So since I've finished clinical treatment and got a bed at a sober house, I fear being homeless every single day. My employment prospects are excellent, and I'm getting healthier every day, but the rent piles up. “Ricky, Inc. is the difference between me and the streets”.
I simply don't know how to say thank you other than to stay sober and help another addict. And while I do that, “I'll never forget Ricky, Inc... Complete strangers whom I've never met and who owe me nothing, took a chance and invested in me. I hope my continued recovery demonstrates that I'm worth your investment”.
If I can EVER be of service to Ricky, Inc. all you need do is ask.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
And Semper fi!
Derek C