So, if you are of the younger crowd or maybe newer to the area….there once was a time that this kid from Sparta wandered into a Grand Rapids radio station one day, called KLQ.  He didn’t leave until he had turned the place inside out and upside down a couple of times and along with that, his life too.  To cut a 19 year old loose on a 50KW radio station was one thing, but them to let him dive into a specialty program, called the Outta Control Saturday Night….when he was 22?  Woah!  The pedal hit the metal pretty quick.  Life got really fast…and almost came to an end on his 30th BD.  That guy is here to tell you how it all began, and where it is now. 

That guy.  It’s me.  I am that guy.  I look back on my KLQ days with nothing but love.  It was a hard beginning, but nowhere near as hard as some trying to get going in the radio business have to face and when the time for change came, I was very fortunate in the fact that I didn’t have to pack up all my crap in a tiny U-Haul and haul ass for some dump of a radio station in the middle of Elk Snout Iowa.  I only needed to go to Muskegon, and at the time….Muskegon was only a little further of a drive for me that Grand Rapids.  Seemed like a perfect gig…and a perfect exit.

In those years at KLQ…..a little something became a big something. Early on in life, I was a Ritalin kid.  It was the first signs that I was an addict.  I OD’d and was hospitalized for it the first time when I was 13.  I began drinking at 12 because the Ritalin kept me awake at night and half a beer, well that made me groggy enough to get to sleep.  By the time I was 33….that half a beer, it became 2 and a half gallons of whiskey a week.  Failed Marriage.  Suicide Attempt.  Only 1 DUI.  Still didn’t quit drinking.  When I began working in Muskegon, the first 4-5 months I think…..13 no call, no shows.  They stuck with me.  The miracle began there.  I moved to Muskegon to either drink myself to death so no one would notice, or I figured some bigger market would come along and scoop me up in a couple of months and I’d blow this popsicle stand.  Was I ever in for a surprise.

August 6th will be my 24 year mark without any alcohol.  I am part of the Board at Samaritan Way Recovery in Muskegon and the services reach to Greenville and Manistee too.  I speak very freely about the fact that I was truly granted a miracle.  I speak very openly about my belief in a Higher Power and I too have a deep understanding for those who are just beginning to see that life has so very much to offer after you are able to “Change Your Mind”.  It’s an internal problem that causes addiction, not a substance.  To leave the insanity behind, and to willingly discuss it and be open about it is how to stay sober.   Thank you for taking the time to catch up as we expand out programming back into Grand Rapids.  We hope you like out “import” from Muskegon.

If you’d like to know more about Samaritan Way Recovery, please visit them online.  If you need a sober living facility to begin your path.  We have one.