This is kind of a personal matter but I decided to post it incase there was anyone else out there who had the same problem as me. Perhaps this can give them hope, I know I thought I had no hope.
I grew up in a small town called Buras, Louisiana. My friends and I were all into skateboarding, skateboarding was my life, I did it at least 6 hours everyday. My parents decided they wanted to move further up north, as we were getting hit by so many hurricanes. Good thing we did because a couple years later Hurricane Katrina hit and the house we lived in was washed a mile down the road from where it was.
When we arrived in Franklinton, Louisiana everything was differen’t. I tried to fit in but I got made fun of constantly. The skater fag who wore spike belts and chuck taylors to school. This didn’t stop me from being me, but I did want some friends. There were no skateboarders, no one that would really accept me into their group. I sat by myself at lunch alot but one day a kid asked me to sit with them. The guy asked me if I wanted this little green pill. I wanted to fit in and didn’t have anything in common with them so I reluctantly took the pill. Before long it turned into an everyday thing.
A couple years later I was pretty much rock bottom. Lost my house, my car, my job, just about everything.I came to Franklinton weighing 230 and dropped down to 140. I would do anything for my fix. My Mom caught me stealing money from her and I completely broke down and told her I needed help. She brought me to an outpatient program. I had tried to quit many times before and it’s super hard and painful, physically and mentally. They gave me a prescription that would ease my physical withdrawal symptoms, but it didn’t really help that much. The doctor didn’t believe that a small guy like me was as strung out as I was and gave me a lose dose. Of course I didn’t stick to my program, at first. I would lay in bed and just cry alot, I also had painful stomach ulcers from abusing medication that contained tylenol.
One day I was feeling extremely sick and decided I couldn’t do it anymore. I called my friend to come over and give me a ride to the dealer. He reluctantly agreed and came over, I had a duncan mosquito laying on my dresser and he got excited and picked it up. He was amazing! Little did I know he was pro and used to compete in every division, placing as high as 12th in worlds, 2nd in state. I was so interested I forgot about going to the dealer and I didn’t even notice my pain for an hour or so. I realised maybe this could be my way out of the hole I dug myself. He told me to go online and order a protostar and he would show me the basics. I took to yoyo’s like a fish in water, when I threw it made my pain go away and I didn’t think about my fix all I cared about was how awesome this new hobby was!
I don’t wake up in cold sweats reaching for my phone first thing anymore. I wake up and grab my yoyo, I guess I replaced one addiction with another. At least yoyo’s aren’t slowly eating my soul…or are they…I honestly believe that I would be dead if I didn’t discover yoyos, they helped me ease out of my hole of depression and remember how life used to be.
So here I am today, still throwing, still breathing, and very much alive! My buddy who taught me to throw moved away so I progress alot on my own thanks to this site. I owe my life to my friend, yoyos, and yoyoexpert. So if anyone out there has a problem similar to mine, remember you can beat this and there are people who know how you feel. Please feel free to contact me if you need someone to talk too.
Remember…don’t do drugs…and…throw everyday!
To end it off here is a video of me throwing a little bit!