Brent immediately impressed me as a friendly guy. He was like the Energizer Bunny and you'd never think he was the oldest member of the crew. Brent is 42 years old.
It's important to realize that just two days ago I told Brent I was going to write about him in the newsletter. He said it was fine and even gave me permission to use his name. My original intention was to make him anonymous. You'll soon discover why.
Fast forward to this past Monday and Brent was working with my son-in-law Brent - yes it gets confusing have two people on the job with the same name - helping to put in all those heat transfer plates. The builder allowed us to borrow Brent to speed up the construction process.
About twenty-five years ago I interviewed the detective of the Amberley Village, Ohio police force. His name was Donald Clark. I lived in Amberley and the interview was done to get insight on what are the right questions to ask a contractor before hiring one.
I'll never forget one sentence that Don said early in the interview, "Tim, most people love to talk about themselves."
Brent Hutchins is one and he had a tale to tell! My son-in-law had been working side-by-side with him on Monday and I was not able to hear much because of the infernal racket made by the on-site electric generator that belched out sound all day like water gushing from a broken fire hydrant. Yes, I was wearing hearing protection and it still drove me nuts.
Over dinner on Monday night I heard about Brent's life. He's a recovering drug addict and thief. He's been in prison twice. He's one of the invisible people you might hear about in the news when a story might appear on your radar screen about the opioid crisis.
Brent used to weigh close to 300 pounds. He had surgery to staple his stomach. His prescription pain killer started him down the dark pathway to heroin.
He's a stoic person, "I don't like asking for help and was convinced I could beat it." He was wrong. He was spending $300-$500 per week on heroin. He began breaking into houses to fuel the addiction. He got caught and was looking at ten years in prison.
Fortunately he was able to enroll in a rehabilitation program and eventually a work-release program.
He's completely turned himself around. "When I got out of jail, I had no friends, no money, nothing."
Now he's got a great job, a wife, his own car, tons of tools, money in a savings account, he goes to church each Sunday, and above ALL ELSE - a contagious positive attitude.
I asked him on Friday morning, "Brent, what happened when you were at the bottom of the pit? What is it that made you turn yourself around and climb back up out of the morass?
"Oh, that's simple. The day I was arrested the first time the officer, a high school buddy of mine, showed me the tear-stained complaint signed by my dad. I was arrested for stealing stored tires from his camp to sell for more heroin. He had hidden game cameras set up at the camp and he saw that I was the thief. That's how bad I was. Stealing from my own dad. Right then
and there I knew I had to beat this thing."
Rarely am I inspired by people, but this week was eye-opening for me. I say this because the opioid scourge is sending about 130 people a DAY up to Heaven. Brent has beat both the Devil and the Grim Reaper so far as he's been clean for three years.
I wanted to share Brent's story with you because you may be trying to overcome some challenge. With me it's ice cream, Peanut M&Ms and recently mini Reese's cups. You may have a battle with some other demon or substance.
Brent's story is evidence that you can overcome your struggle no matter what it is. Perhaps you know someone who's grappling with something. Share Brent's story of success. Hopefully it might spark her/him to break free of the bonds of addiction.
Brent's inspiring turnaround is what's going to get me back to the playing weight of 187 pounds. This is what I looked like I back in college when I played middle linebacker on the top intramural team at UC. That's me on the left in the photo.
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