It was a good thing, too, that I decided to get a hotel, because I needed to do laundry and take a shower if I was going to be anything that resembled presentable for the meeting tonight at the treatment center. I kept myself busy most of the day, and that meant that my mind wasn't running about what I was going to say until I was on my way up the hill to the meeting, and then it started to race. I kept thinking about all the things that I wanted to say and how I was gonna tie it all together, and it was soon just a mess up there.
Then, when I walked into the room and saw that the place was more packed with people than I thought it was going to be, I really started to panic. I went outside to smoke and collect myself a bit, and said something that resembled a prayer. When I got back into the room I still had no idea what I was going to say, but realized that it didn't matter. I was going to say whatever I said, and that was going to be fine.
And that's exactly what I did. I stood up at the podium and I talked, and when I started running out of things to say I turned to look at the clock and I was out of time. Perfect! I have no idea what I said, but I know that I spoke and that people seemed to enjoy it, and I felt great. And not just because it was over, but because I had been given the chance to share my story with a room full of people I'd only known for 23 hours. It was certainly one of those times that I knew I was in the right place at the right time, and I felt that.
When I walked out of the treatment center I looked at the sky and saw this:
Someone's looking out for us…
As I was leaving someone mentioned that they were going to the meeting down in Harlan and I figured I'd stop in for the chance to hear someone else talk for a while. The meeting was great, and there was even another Nick there who has most of the same story that I do! Maybe it's in the name…
Thank you so much to the people of Harlan, especially Stacy for having the courage to ask me to speak, Shawn, for the support, and Nick, for telling my story when I needed to hear it. You all (Y'all) gave me the most wonderful couple of days at a time when I really needed it, and it means more than you may ever know. Keep doing the deal, Harlan!
