Role Model

If there is anyone out there that I truly look up to as a role model, it would be my older brother. His name was Andrew and he was the best brother I could ever ask for, as well as a very strong man. He had such a hard life, but I watched him pick himself back up from so many falls and become a better person.

All his life he had to deal with addiction, whether it be his own or both of our parents. When he was little, our mom wasn't sober, and when he was older, our dad was in and out of sobriety. He started doing drugs and drinking at a young age. It got bad, and he ended up going from smoking weed when he was young to shooting up heroin and messing with prescription pills.

Then, about 2 years ago, he was over at a friends house and ended up mixing some drugs. He had a horrible overdose and wound up in the hospital in a coma. When his friend found him, his finger nails were blue and they called 911. They said that had they waited 15 more minutes to call, it would have been to late. My family was devastated, and doctors were saying that he probably wasn't going to make it and that if he did, he would be in a vegetated state for the rest of his life. We don't know how or why, but he made a miraculous recovery and learned how to walk and talk again! He suffered from brain damage though, and had memory problems, and it took a lot of physical therapy and time for him to learn to walk well again. Before we knew it, he was already driving again. 

Before the overdose, he was a junkie and just didn't seem to care about anything but his drugs because he was so wrapped up in his addiction. After, through the course of his recovery, he just seemed like he really wanted to do something with his life, and we thought that he was done with drugs for good, but what we had forgotten was that regardless of any brain damage or overdose, he was still an addict. He had a few slip ups even after that whole incident happened. I know that isn't what he wanted for himself, he just didn't know how to help himself I guess. A couple months ago he had one last slip up, and long story short he went to go lay down because he said he was tired. My brother died in his sleep that die from a prescription pill overdose. 

Andrew will always be my number one role model because of his ability to pick himself back up no matter how hard he falls. He really tried to do well for himself and get better, especially towards the end of his life, even on his worst days. Drug addiction is a horrible thing, and I wish my brother was still here. I still try to believe that he is in a better place and is no longer suffering, and I also try and think about how many other drug addicts he helped just by telling his story. I love and miss him so much, and I know he loves and misses me too.