the needle and the damage done
last night was great. i went to andyman's with sean, tom, and becky to see tim easton play. megan palmer, from the spikedrivers, was there to accompany him on violin/fiddle. i know i've said this a thousand times, but he's an amazing perfomer. i kept staring at his boots for most of the show because they reminded me of the ones my dad wore to work everyday in the coal mines and later in factories here in columbus. i would stare at those boots and remember my dad coming home from work, setting his lunch pail down on the kitchen table then grabbing his guitar to play tom t. hall and merle haggard songs while i sat at his feet listening. all night i was in between the past with my dad and the present with tim easton. it was a strange feeling, but somewhat nice as well. after the show i was able to sit down and talk with megan, which i've never done. she's very cool and laid back, i can see why tim is so taken by her. not to mention she's gorgeous. we talked for quite some time while tim was packing up his gear. she invited me to the spikedrivers show at ruby's on saturday, promising to put me on the list since i'm poor. around 3 quinn kicked us all out of the bar making us leave our drinks behind. we all continued our conversations in the alley for another hour or so. apparently tim is playing at the arts festival saturday on the broad st. stage around 6:15. i'm considering bringing my nephews up for them to see him play since they are also fans of his music. which is very cool to me considering they are only 5 and 7.
on another note tomorrow is my 5 year anniversary of being drug free. by drug free i mean illegal drugs, not those prescribed to me for actual purposes or because i have friends that are doctors. it's hard for me to believe that it was 5 years ago that i stopped using, it doesn't seem that long. i kind of miss it though. the communal friendship that goes along with drugs, the rituals involved, and a lot of other things. but i guess when you wake up with a needle piercing through your arm and a puddle of dried blood in your palm, it's time to give that life up. five years ago, i went through an excruciating hell that is hard for me to explain and sometime even think about. though i'm still a pill junkie i feel proud of the fact that i've been "clean" for five years. i never thought i'd be able to say that and a lot of other people probably thought the same way, but here i am able to say that and it be the truth. to some it may not seem like such a big deal, but for me it is. i was a completely different person 5 years ago and i'm happy to say that person was left behind along with all the drugs.