Halfmoonslider, I, too, am speechless. I have actually thought about you many times and wondered where you had gone. I appreciate your sharing your story and I am going to read your post to my kids today as well. Anyone that has or is parenting teenagers realize how one wrong turn by our young ones can allow them to make even worse choices. As a mother, my heart bleeds this very moment for the pain that you and your wife have felt as parents but also for the pain, guilt, and confusion your young man has experienced. All of you will be in my prayers from this instant on. Please don't leave the site again.... share with us how your son is progressing and let us all know if there's anything we can do for you. My thoughts and my prayers Halfmoon.
Halfmoon,
I can't say I have had the pleasure of meeting you or your son but as a baseball parent, I feel your pain. My son spent most of his years up north and may at one time have played yours. I can only imagine what your family is going through and yet you have stepped up to tell us your story. That shows us what type of person you are and with someone like you on his side, your son is greatly blessed. Your son could be mine, one of his teammates or another player he knows and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for opening up. I wish you and yours a peaceful holiday and a much better year to come!
I can't say I have had the pleasure of meeting you or your son but as a baseball parent, I feel your pain. My son spent most of his years up north and may at one time have played yours. I can only imagine what your family is going through and yet you have stepped up to tell us your story. That shows us what type of person you are and with someone like you on his side, your son is greatly blessed. Your son could be mine, one of his teammates or another player he knows and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for opening up. I wish you and yours a peaceful holiday and a much better year to come!
Halfmoon...your story brings to mind the adage "There but for the grace of God go I". Your family's situation could easily happen to any of us, IMO. May this Christmas holiday bring your family new beginnings, new hopes and continued dreams! God Bless, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
quote:Cincinnatti's giving him a second chance...a chance that he never would have had if he was a 50th round pick..and while I hope he pulls through, the simple fact remains that he'll always be an addict, always a junkie, and he'll always be one slip from spiraling out of control again.
I agree with 2 seamer and parents of kids who become addicts have a tough roar ahead.
My one brother has a son who became an addict. He came from a well to do home and wanted for nothing. He is 28 now and has been an addict for 10+ years.
Clearly it was the kids he hung around with and has tried rehab only to fall back into the use of drugs. He has stolen from his parents,hocked their items and been invoved in car crashes without a licence. He dissappears for weeks at a time.He has been beat up and stabbed. My brother has had threats to his life by pushers.
Halfmoon I feel for what you are going through and maybe you are lucky he is being punished. This might save his life. I am sur you are getting advice on how to deal with a son who is an addict. As pointed out they are always one slip up away from starting all over again.
My brothers life was perfect until this happened.
Halfmoon,
My thoughts and prayers to you and your son. Makes me grateful the biggest problem I have with my sons is their clothes.
Merry Christmas to you.
My thoughts and prayers to you and your son. Makes me grateful the biggest problem I have with my sons is their clothes.
Merry Christmas to you.
quote:a junkie is an intraveinus drug user,an addict for sure. junkies will never cure addicts can. i didn't know if you realized this. some use this term for lack of a better word. but parents of addicts know the difference.
Being a junkie has nothing to do with intravenous drug use. It may not be a pretty word, but it's accurate. Addicts may go through rehab, and they may quit using, but they will always be addicted....they're never cured completely.
2 seamer
i dissagree with the your junkie definition. but i do agree with the addict thing.i was wrong addicts are always addicts. i've been a recovering alcoholic for most of my adult life.
i dissagree with the your junkie definition. but i do agree with the addict thing.i was wrong addicts are always addicts. i've been a recovering alcoholic for most of my adult life.
There are millions of addicts and alcoholics! There are recovering drug addicts and alcoholics who have done great things.
IMO We are all “one slip up” away from spiraling out of control.
I agree with 2seamer, people need to pay the price and we need to protect others.
We had an employee of PG who I really liked. He was a former college star who made it to Triple A. After baseball he was a police officer for a couple years. He dealt with young players for PG and was great with kids. Then he started missing work with all kinds of excuses. I later found out he had a serious problem using CRACK. We went and got him, took him to the hospital, and he swore he was going to straighten up. We got him into a rehab house and told him we would keep him on salary if he complied completely with the rehab people. He did that for awhile and then told me he was going to quit the rehab he volunteered for (it was not mandatory by law). He said he didn’t need it anymore. Deep down, I knew then and there that we had a problem, but decided to give him every opportunity. Within a couple weeks he was back on the CRACK. I told him we will do whatever we can to help him, but he no longer had a job with PG. You can’t have a CRACK Addict on the staff that works with young players.
It’s a very sad story… He has so much to give young baseball players… He’s a good person… He has a serious problem! He is a CRACK addict! Man, I wish things were different. I don’t know that much about crack cocaine, but he told me he just tried it once at a party and that was all it took!
IMO We are all “one slip up” away from spiraling out of control.
I agree with 2seamer, people need to pay the price and we need to protect others.
We had an employee of PG who I really liked. He was a former college star who made it to Triple A. After baseball he was a police officer for a couple years. He dealt with young players for PG and was great with kids. Then he started missing work with all kinds of excuses. I later found out he had a serious problem using CRACK. We went and got him, took him to the hospital, and he swore he was going to straighten up. We got him into a rehab house and told him we would keep him on salary if he complied completely with the rehab people. He did that for awhile and then told me he was going to quit the rehab he volunteered for (it was not mandatory by law). He said he didn’t need it anymore. Deep down, I knew then and there that we had a problem, but decided to give him every opportunity. Within a couple weeks he was back on the CRACK. I told him we will do whatever we can to help him, but he no longer had a job with PG. You can’t have a CRACK Addict on the staff that works with young players.
It’s a very sad story… He has so much to give young baseball players… He’s a good person… He has a serious problem! He is a CRACK addict! Man, I wish things were different. I don’t know that much about crack cocaine, but he told me he just tried it once at a party and that was all it took!
Good post, PG. Addiction...whether it's drugs, alcohol, gambling...ruins people, lives, and families every day. And you're right..every individual person is only a blink away from spiraling out of control.
Crack is bad stuff. It's theorized that just one exposure to it is enough to get you hooked physically and psychologically. Oxy and meth are close behind. It's a shame about the young guy that worked with you...it's an all too common occurence, unfortuneately.
Crack is bad stuff. It's theorized that just one exposure to it is enough to get you hooked physically and psychologically. Oxy and meth are close behind. It's a shame about the young guy that worked with you...it's an all too common occurence, unfortuneately.
Halfmoon,
Thank you so much for having the courage to share your story. I was crying by the end. It can happen to the best families. It can happen to the nicest kids. I've seen so many surprises within my extended family and among close friends' families during 2006. I will be thinking of your family and praying for a second chance for your son in 2007.
Julie
Thank you so much for having the courage to share your story. I was crying by the end. It can happen to the best families. It can happen to the nicest kids. I've seen so many surprises within my extended family and among close friends' families during 2006. I will be thinking of your family and praying for a second chance for your son in 2007.
Julie
Julie, thanks so much. My intent was not to start a pity party although I must admit I needed some therapy, but I did want to share our experiences in the hopes that our story might help to prevent it happening to someone else. Heck a person needs to feel good about something....For 99.9% of the folks who post here, you absolutely need no help from me. But it seems to me that we are all 2 degrees of separation from this kind of issue and to talk about it openly with our kids can only help. Again thanks to all and have a great 2007.
Thanks for the wake-up call, I really need to have a serious talk with a certain cocky "indestructible" 13yr old 7th grader that I know. The older I get the more I seem to realize how fragile and precious the human life is, and how easy it is to get caught up in things that ruin careers, families, dreams and the childhoods of innocent children. Thanks again and God bless!
It was a courageous post, halfmoon, and...
quote:we are all 2 degrees of separation from this kind of issue and to talk about it openly with our kids can only help.
Judge issues arrest warrant for Allison
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2.../-1/NEWSRECRSSARKIVE
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2.../-1/NEWSRECRSSARKIVE
FRANK/ANDY
Give it a rest !!!--- We all know that the kid has his demons to face but there is no need for you to keep bringing it up on this site--I think we are all well aware of Jeff's plight and wish him the best
Some things are just better off being left alone
Give it a rest !!!--- We all know that the kid has his demons to face but there is no need for you to keep bringing it up on this site--I think we are all well aware of Jeff's plight and wish him the best
Some things are just better off being left alone
It's a topic of interest that could affect any family.
If you don't want to read it, don't click on it. Sticking your head in the sand and just "leaving it alone" won't solve anything.
If you don't want to read it, don't click on it. Sticking your head in the sand and just "leaving it alone" won't solve anything.
2seamer
No sticking my head in the sand here ---been there done that with the drug situation too many times---the point I make is that we are all aware of Jeff's demons and his situation---there is no need for Andy to keep dredging it up
Again I say to you 2 seamer don't judge those whom you do not know at all
No sticking my head in the sand here ---been there done that with the drug situation too many times---the point I make is that we are all aware of Jeff's demons and his situation---there is no need for Andy to keep dredging it up
Again I say to you 2 seamer don't judge those whom you do not know at all
quote:He’s a good person… He has a serious problem!
Bad things happen to good people, that's a bottom liner, IMO.
Lessons can be learned from others.
Awareness is important.
The truth speaks wonders ( even if its sometimes hard to hear, or perhaps makes us feel uncomfortable ).
Being judgemental,
now I'm not so sure how that helps,
unless you are in a court of law and you are either the judge or jury.
Some are closer to the situation than others, but I believe education can be key.
Perhaps the more we know, the more we can help the addicted. Perhaps the more we know, the more we can avoid the addiction.
It may seem repititious to some, but I for one, have been enlightened with this post.
Communication, education, support, and an open mind never hurt.
Mistakes are made at all levels in life. The important part is that lessons are inturn, learned.
Owning one's actions, no matter how many times its brought up amoungst us, is part of the healing and recovery process.
I'm all for: you do the crime, you do the time,....
but forgiveness,...
now that's a trait that I believe,
can only make humanity stronger.
quote:I'm all for: you do the crime, you do the time,....
but forgiveness,...
now thats a trait that I believe,
can only make humanity stronger.
Amen.
quote:No sticking my head in the sand here ---been there done that with the drug situation too many times---the point I make is that we are all aware of Jeff's demons and his situation---there is no need for Andy to keep dredging it up
Baloney. You've maintained the same stick your head in the sand approach with steroid use, and now you're doing it with oxycontin abuse. Oxy and heroin abuse is surging in the United States..even in your part of the country, TR. Just like with steroids, this is an issue that WILL affect young people that you know/coach/associate with.
I don't necessarily agree with every post that Andy/Frank and his other aliases make, but this is an important subject. There are undoubtedly countless new visitors to this site that have no idea who Jeff Allison and Josh Hamilton are, have no idea how many millions of dollars they've squandered because of drugs, and have no idea that their own families may be affected by addiction...because that always happens to someone else.
If this post opens the eyes of just one family, and it saves just one kid, then I'd say it's worth it.
Happy New Year to all...even you, TR..
