Here is Zachary's story along with a bit of my story. This is leading to what may be oddest GAW in AAPK history but it's important to me and to Zachary.
The house we live in was built for my wife's mom and dad in the 50s; one of 3 identical small homes in a growing Boston suburb. They grew very close to one of the families, with the mother being something of a second mother to my wife. One of their sons though was "born bad" and drank himself to death by his 20s. He was a bit older than my wife. In hindsight, there was probably some combination of ADHD and other issues in play.
Their daughter was several years older than my wife was the golden girl of the family and very close to the mother. She married well and raised 3 boys. The oldest two are successful and are now raising families but the youngest was a carbon copy of his ill fated uncle. I used to tutor him in math as he dealt with ADHD and several learning disabilities. He's super talented, works with engines, robots and anything mechanical but he's just different. His name is Zak and you jump in on this, he's the young man you'll be praying for.
Late in high school he hurt his back working at his dad's business. Eventually this led to pain pills. And this led to too many pain pills and he became addicted. He battled the addiction to pain pills for a while but eventually he found a cheaper alternative with heroin. "He's just like his uncle."
About 3 years ago, his mother who was a tireless advocate for him passed suddenly and hardly from fast moving cancer. Zak moved in and out and in and out with his Grandmother, trying to help out around the house and stay employed and off of heroin. He struggled on all fronts. As he told me after getting out of rehab once, "Dave, drugs aren't the problem. They're the answer. The problem is here [pointing to his head]. They're the wrong answer but..."
This spring, his grandmother finally took a bad fall in the house and has moved into assisted living. The house is being sold and Zak has decided to try to make a fresh start of things by moving in with another uncle living South Carolina. He knows where all the dealers are here and there are too many bad memories here.
During the clean out, I came home one day and found a bowl of knives on my porch from Zak. He explained they no longer have any emotional value for him. He knew I was into knives and figured I could find a home for them. There were a few good ones that we've parceled out and what's left is a bit of a sad collection of trinket level knives accrued by a troubled young man.
If you are willing to pray for Zak, I would like to send you one of these knives. I would ask that you put it somewhere where you'll be likely to see it or handle it occasionally. Perhaps your desk drawer, knife bowl, in your tool box or by your keyboard. When you see it, I would ask that you hold it in your hands, so that you are holding a holding a knife that this young man used to hold in his hands and pray that God will place his Holy Spirit upon Zachary, and save him from the bondage of heroin. Pray that God will help Zachary find healing and help for dealing with the core emotional or mental issues that drive him towards drugs. Pray for protection for a desperate young man who is seeking safe harbor while putting distance between himself and his family. Pray that the hounds of heaven will pursue Zachary and that God will direct the hands of the body of Christ toward Zachary, no matter where he ends up.
Two short stories about me. My mom is an addict. She became hooked on prescription meds was I was a small child and we found out much later than he suffers from profound and destructive mental illness. God never "cured" her of the mental illness. Some mental problems like personality disorders are like amputations. They don't get better this side of heaven. But God has brought some amount of healing for us as a family, and for me and my sister in our lives and even for my mom, even though she still "not right" and is still on a pain management regime centered on narcotics.
And then there is my buddy Joe. He was a pastor's kid I knew in college. Super bright. ADHD to the max. Fun. Dangerous. He considered it fun to find road kill possums and to toss them into bars late at night, just to generate a fast car chase in rural Ohio. Joe's first marriage became a disaster as he got into coke and then an affair. His second broke up due to the drugs. I lost touch with him only to get a call decades later from Joe, telling me he was dying from cancer. We spent many long hours talking and praying. His road back to sobriety started when he was walking down a street in Florida, penniless and he walked by a Nazarene church and heard "the blue haired little old ladies singing". He walked in and those blue haired ladies took him in and healing began.
And then there was Ray. He lived across the street from me. He walked over to my house drunk and desperate. He had heard us playing Christian music and he knew we went to church. His life had come apart with a combination of booze and drugs. We prayed. I gave him a Bible. He lost the house and was in and out of psych units and rehabs. Eventually, I lost touch with him. 5 years later, he called me out of the blue. He could never bring himself to throw out that Bible and kept in on his TV during the drinking and drugging. Eventually he picked it up and started reading it. He was calling me tell me that he'd been sober for nearly 2 years.
Addiction and mental illness are hard things. But I'm convinced that God can bring healing and help and that your prayer will matter. I also believe that God calls us to pray and that if you're reading this you might feel the tug of the Holy Spirit calling you to pray for a young man, Zachary, whom you've never met. If you feel led in this way, pick a knife and I'll send you one. Contact me by PM or by email at pinnah at comcast dot net.
Here's the list of knives starting at the top left and moving down the first column and then down the right.
Fixed Blade - Tang stamp "Frost Cutlery/Surgical Steel" and "Japan". Rainbow laminate scales and black leather sheath.
Black Work Knife - Frame lock. Thumb studs. Removable clip for tip down carry. Rubberized painted scales. Tang stamp "Made in China".
Miniturized Fixed Blade - Tang stamp "Made in USA". Faux pearl scales. Flamingo motif sheath.
Key Chain Frame Lock - Blue. Tang stamp "Stainless/Taiwan"
Top of right column
Single Blade Slip Joint - Tang stamp "Colonial/Prov. USA". Plastic faux bone scales. Stamped hollow bolsters. Half stop. (Aside: vintage junk knife?)
Barlow - Tang stamp "Bayes/USA". Engraved bolster. Plastic faux bone scales. Rough stumble and mumble action.
Mini Lockback - Tang stamp "Frost Cutlery/Soligen Steel" with blade etch Pakistan. Rainbow laminate scales. Rough action but solid lock up.
Scout Knife - Tang stamp is "Imperial/Prov R.I./USA" Shield is "D E" over an arrow. Celluloid scales are cracking. Bail is missing. Weak snap on main blade.
Serpentine Pen Knife - Tang stamp "Frost Cutlery/Surgical Steel/Japan". Rainbow laminate scales. Swell center. Single spring. Quite small like a peanut.
Serpentine Jack Knife - Tang stamp "Imperial/Prov. USA". Flat sabre grind main blade. Black plastic faux saw cut scales. Arm and hammer motif shield.
Single Blade Slip Joint - Tang stamp "National Blade/NJ/USA/Surgical Steel/Japan". Blade etch "Dolphin". Scrimshaw scale with light house and tall ship motif.
Pen Knife - Tang stamp "Stainless steel/Japan". Faux pearl scales. Significant blade loss.
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