Many years ago, before all this…before crack addiction made me what I was, and what I am…many years ago, before all this, I was something more than this: something more than this shell, something more than this ghost. That is what crack addiction does to you, if you let it…that is what crack addiction does to you whether you want it or not, because that is what crack addiction is, and that is how crack addiction works.

Drug addiction is a hollower of men, a disease that strips you of everything…everything inside and outside…everything you thought you ever cared about and everything you thought was who you were…yes crack addiction is a hollower of men, and he who learns that lesson the hard way…as I have, as I am…is the owner of hard-won wisdom indeed.

Many years ago, before crack addiction made me what I am, I was something better…something more…than this. Many years ago, before crack addiction with its hollowing and stripping turned me into this shell, this ghost…many years ago I was something more, something better: Many years ago I was myself…and that, today, seems to me a thing worth being again, some day, maybe, many years from now.