One lonely Saturday night while driving through Bristol, I passed the building with the sign and phone number. I circled the block, wrote down the phone number, found a phone booth and called the number.
A manly voice answered the phone and provide the first step to my recovery...he listened. He listened as I questioned my life, my emotions, my fears and my regrets. He reassured me that all these feelings were normal given the circumstances of this stage of my life. He listened as I cried with pain and fear...and then he said..."In time, all wounds can heal with proper care." Then he began to explain "proper care"...care for ones self. He shared options...he empowered me to care for me. He provided another small set of tools...tools for healing...tools for living...to use when the situation warranted it. Then he indicated that I could "walk forward with head up and heart open." Finally...options.
I never forgot that night and, even though times became more difficult, I had tools...options that depended upon me and not someone else...to use, to care for, to cherish.
After recovery, I vowed to someday repay and pay forward the kindness the manly voice shared with me. During an afternoon break at work, one of the local television news segments focused on the needs of The Crisis Center for volunteers and donations. A few weeks later, I made the call and another defining chapter in my life began. After many years and many roads traveled, I am here at the Crisis Center training to be a hotline volunteer. Not only repaying one debt, but paying forward to all that have taken the time to listen and to care for me as a person.
This community is blessed to have these people dedicated to service to one another...The Crisis Center.
