My ex-brother-in-law had a stroke. He’s in intensive care and obviously he’s in bad shape. It was caused by a meth addiction. He’s my age. But when they ran tests on him he had alcohol,meth, and painkillers in him. A fact I did not know about meth until my sister was telling me all this is that meth wears on your heart, causing heart damage and in my ex-brother-in-laws case only 30% of his heart is functioning still. There’s a chance this might be it for him.
I met the guy in about 1986. He made a good impression on me. Good looking guy, he looked straight edged, clean cut. He knew I had schizophrenia but neither one of us mentioned the subject the whole time I knew him.
But his story is a shock and I think you guys will get something out of this.
He had been around. He drove motorcycles, hung around with a dangerous crowd. Was in a rock band. Had run-ins with the cops. Smoked pot and drank. But when he married my sister he settled down. He straightened up his act and actually rose above his circumstances and his friends. He was a good mechanic and made a lot of money and they bought a house in an affluent neighborhood. Now to me, he was the epitome of normal. He looked normal, he was very confident, he was very social. He could hang out with anybody as an equal. I thought he was a nice guy. I ALWAYS looked at him as someone who had it made. He always treated me condescendingly unfortunately and always treated everything I said or did with an incredulous look as if he couldn’t believe anybody could say that. For some reason I always though he was a nice guy. until just last month coincidentally my other sister said, no, he was an as*shole. It never registered with me before. So on a personal note I was mad at myself for being treated like that by someone like that. But the poor guy is in bad shape so I forgive him.
But here’s the thing. I said I thought he had it made. He was living a middle class life. He seemed on top of the world.While he was married to my sister he drank, but he did no drugs. When they divorced 8 years ago he went downhill. He was the last person you would think who would get addicted to meth. He lived in a house in the suburbs. He lost the house to meth and rented a room in his brothers house. My sister told me actually had very low self esteem. She said his whole life was an illusion. I’m not trying to be cold-hearted or inappropriate because he’s still a human being but his life fell apart and it makes me wonder about other people and what their lives are really like. He looked like he had it all, at one point he had a good heart. He could be fair and nice, he was not a horrible person.I owe him some loyalty and sympathy. This is unbelievable the turn his life made. I hope for old times sake that he survives.He’s in seriously bad shape.
It is good you have great sympathy for him, I am quite different, I had few brother-in-laws in America, but I do not want to hear about them. Maybe you are a bigger man than I am, but people are different. I know that these narcotics can cause many physical problems, but I have never seen any narcotics in my life nor used any.
Everybody thought my dad was a great guy. He did projects with kids in the suburbs. Buildt playgrounds. Was a popular politician for a while. He was a really nice guy to everyone. At home, he was a ■■■■■■■. He hit me and my brother. Was very abusive, physical and mental. He hit my mom at least once (I saw it that time). He is a psychopath. He had it all too. Great job, family, villa. Then it all crumbled. But he does no drugs. Nor alcohol.
I am not angry with him anymore. Anger and hate consumes you and makes you feel depressed.
Man… I want to read… Line breaks dude.
The heart is a scary organ. It has a ridiculous job. Must beat. At best every 2 seconds. An entire lifetime of activity.
OK. I thought I had put enough line breaks in this time. I’ll do it better next time.
Oh, OK. you mean DOUBLE spaces in between paragraphs. Gotcha.
@77nick77 I’m sorry to hear about your brother in law. It is not nice to see anybody in a bad shape. As with his meth usage and stuff I believe that we cannot judge someone unless we have stand in their shoes. Even good people go of the track sometimes.
Yeah man. Ill try to be more clear.
Your story is a good cautionary story about drugs. There was this young woman passing through the assisted living center where I live. She had a strong heroin and narcotics addiction. There was this guy here who had a degenerative bone disease, and he was getting heavy pain medication - dilaudid and oxycontin - so they were a match made in heaven. Then the guy left, and this young woman cut her own throat trying to kill herself. She missed any major arteries, but she had to get twenty-two stitches. She’s never going to be free of her addiction. Things like that are what keep me from messing with hard drugs. I’m addicted to alcohol, and that’s bad enough, but I can manage it to where it doesn’t do too much damage.
■■■■■■■ drugs. Been hanging out with some folks doing coke. They’re all coming down now. Starting to complain and ■■■■.
A few of them wandered off to get drunk.
These are the people I know…
I am certainly not judging. I’m a recovering crackhead, lol. No, sorry that’s a negative label. But I grew up in a nice home, in a nice middle-class city. I got off track. And back on. But this guy went from the top to the bottom. I hope he recovers but it looks bad.
Yeah, those are the people I used to know. I don’t have any friends now but the people I’ve known AFTER I got clean don’t drag me down with them and I don’t drag them down because we don’t do drugs. But I know how hard it is to break away from friends even if they’re bad for you.
This is my brother my cousin and their friends.
I hope they grow out of it.
They don’t have any serious habits, today was a “holiday.”
They do indulge in any occasion.
Now they’re bitching about working in 3 hours.
Yeah, lol. I have to work in three hours too.
I am so sorry to hear about your ex brother-in-law. Sadly, we shape our own life. Every single decision of our life contributes in shaping our life. I wish he’d recover soon.
The way you have described his nature, I bet the person must be of a good heart. Don’t feel sad Nick, things will get better. Just have patience and know that certain things are beyond our control. If some bad thing hits someone, all we can do is help or at least hope for the best.
Sorry to hear about your ex brother in law. I hope he is receiving good care.
It’s amazing what illusions people can create to get by in their day. When you said he could be friends anywhere… I was thinking of how open and friendly and chatty I could get on amphetamines.
Sorry the guy is in such rough shape. I feel for him as well.
Wishing the best for your and your family.
Very good comment with an opposing POV. Maybe you misjudged him. You show understanding.
I enjoyed reading this thread.
Jayster
Sorry to hear this @77nick77.
I dont think there are too many people in this world that don
t have something going on–even the people that seem like they have it all.
Getting hooked on drugs is one of the worst things.