“I was a truck driver and got paid to see the country. I never knew where I was going until I got empty. The hardest part was staying awake when there wasn’t time to stop and sleep and make my destination. I did crack and crystal meth and stayed up four or five days in a row. If you didn’t stay awake and drive, you could barely make money. I started doing drugs when I was young. The strongest thing I smoke now is a cigarette and the strongest thing I drink is a cup of coffee or a glass of tea. I have been tempted several times to do it again, but never did. I know what it led to and what it did to me before.

I drove from Miami to Seattle, Oregon and Wyoming. If I left Miami this morning, you could bet your last dollar I would be in Seattle, Washington 71 hours and 45 minutes later. Crack kept me awake and aware. They called it “Go Fast.” “Lucille” was the name for cocaine.

I saw a lot driving a truck and turned in a lot of drunk drivers. The hardest day was coming out of Texas, crossing into Louisiana and a church bus and van had turned over. They were full of children. It broke my heart and I had to pull over and cry.

On July 11, 1989, I loaded a flatbed in Illinois and met up with another driver going to New Jersey. We did a little sightseeing and were detoured through Indiana. It was a divided four-lane highway and my friend told me I had plenty of time to pull out. I saw the other truck and thought I was fine. The next thing I knew, I woke up in an ambulance. I had second-and third-degree burns on my hand and arms. The heat from his radiator ruptured my fuel tank. I stayed off work for two months. I was as high as a Georgia pine the day of the wreck and it woke me up. I quit everything cold turkey. I used to get out of bed with a joint in my mouth. I don’t need it now. These scars mean a lot.

I am not ashamed to say that on June 13, 1991, I gave my life to Christ. I am saved and if I die right now I am going to heaven. I am on my way back up and I won’t give up. When you give up, all you are doing is telling the devil, come on, here I am. I am through. Don’t do that, the devil is already defeated.”