I live in Mineral Point, Wisconsin a town of 2600 and I was moved here kicking and screaming. I never understood the allure of a small town and I was sure that living here was going to be torture at its finest. My partner (Jason) grew up in a small town in the Midwest and after living in Florida and then moving to Madison, he found Mineral Point and decided that he/we had to live here. I was not interested. He would come home from a day trip, touting how magical a town Mineral Point was and how great living in a small town would be. All I could think of was, “Not on your life! Where would I shop?”
 
If I had only known then just how big of a role this small town and the people in it would play in my sobriety, I would have moved here years ago. I found in Mineral Point some of the best and most genuine friends I have ever had in my life. Keith Huie, Sandy Scott, Judy Sutcliffe, Tom and Kathie Kelly, Julia Dailey, Justin and Jessie Potterton, Cierra Wallace, Kendall and Stuart Brokopp, Ken and Geralyn Wallace and the entire Red Rooster breakfast gang are just a handful of the people that have truly made a difference in my life.
 
I worried about confessing my addiction to people that in my eyes might not be able to understand my struggle. I worried that I would become the subject of town gossip and be labeled as “city trash” bringing city problems to our small town. I soon learned that everyone became the subject of town gossip and it was very much an equal opportunity gossip mill. The gossip mill didn’t care whether you were a drug addict, the town tramp, or just the person that did not keep a tidy yard; you were going to be gossiped about and subject to the occasional glance of disapproval.
 
My normal routine of waking up and doing an injection of meth was soon replaced by breakfast and hearty conversations at the Red Rooster Café with a group of people that had no idea that they were getting me through the most difficult two hours of my day. I found solitude in my interactions with the disarming morning breakfast gang and soon began to look forward to seeing them… and being at the epicenter of the town gossip mill. I got all the dirt on the happenings in town and, most importantly, I got through the cravings, not by sitting in rehab, but by being surrounded by what I consider to be the greatest asset of Mineral Point – its residents.

In this small town that I once thought of as the ultimate end to my ability to be labeled a city guy, I found refuge from what ailed me the most, a fight with drug use that had already consumed more than half my life. Who would have thought in a town of 2600 people that so many of them would not only take interest in my journey, they were more than happy to become a part of my journey in the most loving and sincere manner possible, and became a part of my chosen family.

I am coming up on five years of sobriety and I just wanted to acknowledge the small town of Mineral Point, my home, and the unknowing battle ground for my recovery. Thank you for embracing me and helping me to find a place to call home.