MyStoryUK “everybody has a story to tell”
YouTube RecoveryChannelUK
Remembering
GaryT
MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering”
Remembering GaryT 3 4 5 6 7 7 8 10 10 11 12 13 13 14
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Awakening Sitting Knowing Remembering Survival A Pillow The Street This World The Same Air Now Days Good And Bad The Meeting Asleep Or Awake What Is Life?
MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering”
Awakening I wake up in the morning thinking how I got to where I am. And then it comes to me, I done wrong again. And then I remember it all. Hitting someone, being asked by the police about it, getting charged, going to court and the judge saying, “No bail, just jail.” But that’s OK. I can handle it, I am a man, I can take it.
I said, “Not again.” I thought to myself, “ Not again.”
Maybe one day I will learn my lesson. I hope I do, before it’s too late.
I suppose I will go to jail for a long time now. 3
MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering”
Sitting I was sitting on a bench, a fag in one hand, a can of cider in the other. I see a policeman coming towards me. I thought to myself, “What have I done now?” When he walked up to me, he said, “You cannot drink that sitting there, but if you move around the corner, out of sight, you can drink it there.” But I thought he was going to take it away from me.
But I was OK. I did not see that policeman again that day.
So what I did was, got up and walked around the corner. Drank it, put the can in the bin and went to get some more, and went and sat on the same bench and drank my beer.
So I think he found something better to do with his time, like go and have a cup of coffee or nick someone doing something wrong. 4
MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering”
Knowing I remember a time when I was small and did not want to go to school. And all I could hear was mum saying, “You have to go back to school because I have to go to work and there will be no-one to look after you.” “That’s OK, I will look after myself.” And all she said was, “I have not got time for this. I am late for work.” And when I get out of prison, I want to be somebody, somewhere, doing things I have never done. I don’t know what yet 5
MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering�
Remembering I remember the first time I felt the rain. It was when I was about two years old. My Mum was pushing me in the pram and I was getting wet. That was so good. I also remember that I was running around and the sun was so hot, it felt really good pounding on me. It felt like a fire burning in the front room of the house, I just knew I was safe and warm and I felt so good. I wish it would shine always.
So I picked up some snow in my hands and it started to melt. I was too young, I did not know why it was melting. But as I got older, it all came to me. It was only water and it soon cleared up when the sun was out and the sun was melting it because the sun was so hot.
I also remember the snow. I went to the park with my family when it was snowing. I was rolling around on the ground and I felt really cold. But also it felt so soft, it was like laying on a pile of blankets.
So that was how I found out about the weather. And I really enjoyed it all. 6
MyStoryUK GaryT GaryT “Remembering” “Remembering” MyStoryUK
A Pillow Our lives are like a lift, we have our ups and downs. But you are like a pillow because when I hug you, it’s so soft like a pillow. And when we are together we are like glue. And that is why we are stuck with each other, for now and always.
Survival I hope I can survive and keep off the drink. And I think I can do something good and create something. So often I sit around, like the two men in the picture, and plan things in secret. 7
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MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering”
The Street When I am living on the street, I see so many things, as I have to be awake at six o’clock in the morning. I see people going to work, and people coming home from work. People cleaning, opening shops, getting ready for a day’s trading. I see people going shopping, kids going to school, people waiting to get on buses or trains. I see police walking around, everywhere. 8
MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering�
I then sit in the park and relax with a drink. People running around with their dogs. And then I get up and go to the shops to get some more drink. I sit around drinking. And then the people start to come home from work, or shops And then it is evening, I see people enjoying themselves. And that is the day over again. 9
MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering”
This World The Same Air
I remember one time. I was asked to go on a school trip to Inverness.
You are the one I love because I adore you. Because the air I breath is the same air as you breath.
And at first I said, “No.” But people said I would enjoy it. So off I went.
That is what makes us so special together. Because we are the same.
And yes, they were right. I did enjoy it.
So that is why I love you so much.
It was out of this world. 10
MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering”
If you had a fight in those days, whoever won, it would be over and done with. If you had a fight in the pub it would be just the two of us go into the car park to sort it. If you lost, you would shake hands and go back into the pub and have a drink together, all over. But now days, if you get in a fight, it is not one on one but five on one, or gangs using weapons killing people. What I don’t understand is what has gone wrong in the world.
Now Days
Every time you watch the news, it is about people being shot or another war is about to be restarted. Surely things can change and be sorted out by talking together like it was in the old days. All I can say is, if the grown-ups stop fighting, the kids will stop.
When I was young, growing up was fun. You would live with mum and dad. You could leave your doors open unlocked and no one would nick anything or hurt anyone.
There is a reason why this cannot happen, is there? Because in the end, we all have to live in this world, don’t we? So we must try to get along. That’s what I say. 11
MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering” MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering”
Good And Bad
Good And Bad
Anybody only gets one chance with me. If they muck it up they know there is no chance us being friends Anybody only gets oneofchance with me. anymore.
There is good and bad in everybody, There is be good andwhite, badwhatever. in everybody, it black, I know a lot ofwhatever. people from different races be it black, white, know I have met baddifferent ones and good ones. I know aand lotI of people from races
If they muck it up Is this they know there is no chance ofwrong? us being Not in my eyes. friends anymore. That’s the way I am.
and I know I haveI get metonbad and good But myself, with ones everyone. ones. Until they piss me off. And that is it.
But myself, I get on with everyone. Until they piss me off. And that is it.
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Is this wrong? Not in my eyes. That’s the way I am.
I like it that way because that is the way I want it. I would not change it for anything MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering” MyStoryUK because you are my heart, myGaryT soul,“Remembering” my life. And you are the only one I want to be with for the rest of my life.
The Meeting When we first met it was like a drug. I could not get enough of you and that is how it still is. I would never stop taking that drug. Because that is what is keeping our love and hearts together, always Babes.
Asleep Or Awake When I close my eyes I am asleep. But all I can see is you. And when I am awake you are there. I like it that way because that is the way I want it. I would not change it for anything because you are my heart, my soul, my life. And you are the only one I want to be with for the rest of my life. 13
MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering”
W h a t I s L i f e? Life starts when we are born and ends when we die. But the bits in the middle are what we want it to be. We all have our own paths to follow. What path we take is up to us. We can go to work each day and have a family and kids. Or we can go through life getting into trouble and going to prison. But the only person who can change this, is us. But only if we want to. At the end of the day, life is what we make of it, ain’t it? 14
MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering”
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MyStoryUK GaryT “Remembering”
Feel free to share this heartwarming story with your family and friends. For paper copies please contact Spitalfields Crypt Trust Janice Taylor 020 7613 5677 janice.taylor@sct.org.uk 116 - 118 Shoreditch High Street London E1 6JN.
More productions by MyStoryUK Fragments of Amy
MyStoryUK “everybody has a story to tell”
Fragments of Amy
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Published by MyStoryUK poems by Gary T (Acorn House, Downham Lodge) drawings by Anne, Michael, Lee & Simon (Hanbury) design and photo RodB the Spitalfields Crypt Trust www.sct.org.uk and the New Hanbury Project 020 7613 5636 3 Calvert Avenue London E2 7JP paper February 2009 online ISSUU August 2012 RecoveryChannelUK@gmail.com
Love Coming Here Sue H
onB interviewed by Sim
lots of short films on YouTube RecoveryChannelUK online books at ISSUU MyStoryUK
MyStoryUK “everybody has a story to tell”
At age 15 I was admitted to hospital following a suicide attempt for 24 hours observation. I was discharged 13 months later, more unwell than when I arrived.
Sue H “I Love Coming Here” “Yeah, I’ve been clean for about 6 years next month, off drugs and alcohol. But I was using for about 35 years and umm . . . I first started using when I was 15.”
MyStoryUK “everybody has a story to tell”
YouTube RecoveryChannelUK
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