Wow! I have been there. Such truth in this post. I wish I could save each & every person stuck down there. I was there. I know the game. I know the fear. It’s SO much better on the other side. If only they could get unstuck.:(
Very well written. She put into words the exact feelings I experienced when I was stuck in the viscous cycle of living on the streets. Actually not living but existing and just surviving day by day. I’m not from Kensington, I’m actually from north jersey and did my dirt in Paterson NJ. Funny thing is I’ve been to many different hoods throughout the USA but they are all the same. Just different names and faces but same issues. I feel bad for the families who are stuck raising their children under these circumstances. The drugs and violence. I remember people used to tell me to go home. They were trying to get out of the hood and I was there voluntarily and wouldn’t leave. It’s sad because as a young white girl it was too easy for me to make money. The tricks as we called them just kept coming , day and night. It was like a bottomless atm…and once I numbed myself with the drugs it didn’t matter what guy picked me up as long as he had a pocket full of money. As the years went by my soul grew colder and the mess I had made of my life seemed irreparable. How could I get a job with a prison record, how do I regain my families trust, how do I learn to be responsible ect… it all seemed impossible. After using for over 20 years at age 37 I finally had enough. I enrolled in a methodone clinic and got clean. It has now been 3 years and I have a great job, my family forgave me and besides all the fun material things a regained the feeling of freedom I thought I had running the streets a now truly live. Freedom from the monkey on my back telling me to put needles in my arm and sell my body ect… I want to thank Jeffery Stockbridge for humanizing the people that are out there still suffering. Everyone of them has a story. Lastly I want to give a little hope to all the addicts who feel like they are stuck and will never get out…believe me if I could do it anyone can. Also, there is no textbook way to getting clean. Different things work for different people. Personally, I was a able to detox off the methodone and now I’m clean, others go to NA meetings, others use Suboxone. Whatever works for you find it.
This is the love of my life. I am proud to call her my everything. We are so lucky we found each other. She no longer lives the cycle. I hope every other person who thinks they are stuck in the Kensington Hole, can take some inspiration that there is hope.
Mindy, 2013.
Wow! I have been there. Such truth in this post. I wish I could save each & every person stuck down there. I was there. I know the game. I know the fear. It’s SO much better on the other side. If only they could get unstuck.:(
Very well written. She put into words the exact feelings I experienced when I was stuck in the viscous cycle of living on the streets. Actually not living but existing and just surviving day by day. I’m not from Kensington, I’m actually from north jersey and did my dirt in Paterson NJ. Funny thing is I’ve been to many different hoods throughout the USA but they are all the same. Just different names and faces but same issues. I feel bad for the families who are stuck raising their children under these circumstances. The drugs and violence. I remember people used to tell me to go home. They were trying to get out of the hood and I was there voluntarily and wouldn’t leave. It’s sad because as a young white girl it was too easy for me to make money. The tricks as we called them just kept coming , day and night. It was like a bottomless atm…and once I numbed myself with the drugs it didn’t matter what guy picked me up as long as he had a pocket full of money. As the years went by my soul grew colder and the mess I had made of my life seemed irreparable. How could I get a job with a prison record, how do I regain my families trust, how do I learn to be responsible ect… it all seemed impossible. After using for over 20 years at age 37 I finally had enough. I enrolled in a methodone clinic and got clean. It has now been 3 years and I have a great job, my family forgave me and besides all the fun material things a regained the feeling of freedom I thought I had running the streets a now truly live. Freedom from the monkey on my back telling me to put needles in my arm and sell my body ect… I want to thank Jeffery Stockbridge for humanizing the people that are out there still suffering. Everyone of them has a story. Lastly I want to give a little hope to all the addicts who feel like they are stuck and will never get out…believe me if I could do it anyone can. Also, there is no textbook way to getting clean. Different things work for different people. Personally, I was a able to detox off the methodone and now I’m clean, others go to NA meetings, others use Suboxone. Whatever works for you find it.
you are a great writer! thank you for sharing your story
This is the love of my life. I am proud to call her my everything. We are so lucky we found each other. She no longer lives the cycle. I hope every other person who thinks they are stuck in the Kensington Hole, can take some inspiration that there is hope.