“I’d been living a reckless life. I was stealing a lot. I was dabbling in drugs. I’d gotten to the point where I had no hope and no faith. Eventually I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital because of a suicide attempt. My parents came to visit me. We’d never seen eye-to-eye. But they told me: ‘Come home and we’ll pretend nothing happened.’ It was a toxic thing to say, but I was relieved to have any sort of support. We’d always been a military family. So even though I wanted to go to college, I saw enlisting in the Air Force as the only way to redeem myself. The recruiter told me that I needed to lose 70 lbs in three months. But I was determined. I started working out three times a day. I became addicted to counting calories. And it was during this period that I met Irina. We were working at the same restaurant. One night we were folding napkins together, and I sort of just poured out my whole life story. She didn’t seem to mind. We began to hang out quite a bit. She started taking me to church with her. She’d come to the gym with me every day. And even though she was in much better shape, she’d always run at my pace. She supported me every step of the way. She even came with me when I got a tattoo to cover up the scars from my suicide attempt. Everything seemed to be on track. But on the day of my final weigh-in, I was .2 lbs over. Standing on that scale, I actually felt a sense of peace. My recruiter told me to try again next week, but I turned her down. I knew I didn’t want to be in the Air Force. My parents were so disappointed that they told me not to come home. That night Irina and I sat in a park for two hours. She told me: ‘I’m always here for you. And so is my family.’ If it wasn’t for her and the church, I’d probably be in a hospital bed right now. Either that or I wouldn’t be here at all. But instead I’m about to graduate with a social work degree. Irina and I are living our dreams together. We’re roommates. Both of us are youth group leaders. And both of us are working as addiction counselors. I’m finally living life on my own terms. I want to be the person that I needed when I was a kid, the person that Irina was for me.”
prguitarman
izzy806
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annaxmalina
theartofmadeline
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2087
