Mark Dohle
Well-Known Member
A woman on Meth
(Written Sept 2017)
On Tuesday of this week, one of the brothers mentioned to me that there was a woman out front who seemed to be in distress. He told me that she was sitting in one of the red chairs at the end of the walkway in front of the retreat house. I looked out the front door and saw the woman sitting there, leaning over, and looking dejected. So I walked over to her. As I approached I could see that she seemed to be on a drug of some sort. So I went up and sat down next to her and asked her how she was doing.
When she looked up at me I could see that she could be quite attractive when not in the place that she was at now. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying and she seemed to be shaky. I gently asked her what she was on. She seemed to cringe when I asked her. So I quickly added that I was not there to judge her, but to see if she needed help. She told me that she took some Meth three hours earlier. What caused her to “go back to it”, was a breakup with a boyfriend, or someone she thought was her boyfriend. She was living with four other people, who were also on drugs.
I asked her if she drove to get here. She answered in the affirmative. Even as I was talking to her, her mood seemed to deteriorate and she became more frantic. As we talked I surmised that she came here for help, medical help, to deal with her addiction. I asked her if she wanted to go somewhere where she would get help to dry out and get sober. She said yes. So I asked her if it was ok to call the police so that they could come out and get her help. She could not drive in the condition and she could not stay in our retreat house because we were having a full house. In any case, I would not be able to do so. In the past addicts end up stealing, so I did not want to put any retreatants through that again. She agreed that calling the police would be to her best interest.
I called 911 and they sent out a police officer to talk to her. The police officer asked her to go back to her car and he will meet her there. She was parked in the parking lot near our bakery. So she went off and he drove around. I hope she can get the help she needs.
I have learned not to carry others' pain, for it does me no good nor does it do anything for the one being carried. I did feel a burden for her however and continued to pray for her throughout the day. I doubt I will ever forget her.
Addictions of any kind are destructive, though it will vary on what the addiction is. Some are very common and do not cause the havoc that the major addictions do….addiction to meth for instance. Any kind of self-medication is a way to escape from the pain from the problems of life. In doing so, we forestall growth and actually cause ourselves more pain. Or that is my own experience. As John of the Cross said (a Paraphrase) a bird held by a thread or a heavy chain is still bound and cannot fly.-Br.MD