Saturday, 20 June 2009

• My nephew R.

  Wow, I haven't blogged much lately. Rereading my most recent blogs, most of them sound like I'm bitching. I'm not. I have just been dwelling on the negative lately. Well not anymore! I am going to try and be positive.

   I do need to talk about one negative thing, but I will end on a positive note, I promise. As some of you are aware my nephew R has been staying with me off and on since December trying to kick his drug habit. In all honesty he's doing great but something happened this week that I just knew meant he was using again. He totaled my Dad's truck. He was coming down the mountain above the house when he claims that the truck ran out of gas. Apparently it died and he lost steering and brakes. He hit the shoulder of the road and rolled straight down the hill, crushing the cab. He walked home and came through the door covered in mud and bleeding from several places. After ascertaining that he wasn't seriously hurt, I accused him of using. I knew he had to be high to have driven off the side of the mountain like that. We had a huge fight because he didn't want me to call the Sheriff or my parents. He wanted to wait until morning and tell everyone then. I took this to mean that he was high and needed to come down before talking to anyone in authority. He said there was nothing anyone could do before morning. Why bother the Sheriff or his grandparents until then? Okay, I waited until morning. Mom's reaction? "Well, we'll probably get more from the insurance than we could have if we traded it in." The Sheriff's reaction? "If there's no injuries or property damage, call a tow truck and it won't go on your record.". I wanted to scream that this was the result of his being a junkie and someone needed to do something about it. Mom insisted that i take him to the Hospital in case there was something wrong that couldn't be seen. He was xrayed and ctscanned and then, they drew blood! Yes, I was about to be vindicated! I knew he would test positive. Then the nurse came in and said everything was ok, to take ibuprofen for the pain and come back in two weeks for a follow up visit. I asked about the drug test. She said the lab hadn't called but that usually meant there was no alcohol or drugs present. Frustrated we got in the car to drive home. R got a call on his cell and it was for a job interview for a really good job. We went and I sat outside while he was interviewed. He was inside for more than 2 hours. When he came out he told me he was hired and that he started the next morning. The first order of business would be a drug test, then he would feel out his new hire paperwork and that he would actually start working on the floor.Ah ha, the other shoe was about to fall. I drove him to work the next morning and stayed in town because, of course he would be calling me for a ride shortly when he failed the drug. He called me an hour later on my cell and said "are you at home?" "No, I answered, I'll be right there to pick you up." Why, he said. I passed the drug test. I told you I hadn't been using. Go home, I'll call you when I know what time I'll be off." He worked all day, even 2 hours of overtime and he worked today. So, I was wrong. He just had an accident. He is not on drugs. He has a job and it's a good one. I guess that's about as positive as you can get.

  BTW, he still loves me and I love him. He has earned a little bit of trust back and I know it's only going to get better from here.

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