My dear Steemit friends,
Last year I promised you many things. I promised I would tell you my story of my new life here in Europe.. but the inevitable happened. I allowed depression to take over me!
How is it possible that a person could leave a third world country to move into one of the most beautiful countries in the world (Switzerland), being married to a beautiful Italian woman, opportunities to make an incredible living fall into depression?
Why did I allow this to happen to me?
How I was able to overcome my depression?
How may my story help you?
To understand we must start from the beginning... Here's my story.
The Beginning
I grew up in a beautiful island in the Caribbean called St Kitts. The eldest son of 4 siblings, I have two brothers and two sisters.
My sister's spent more time with themselves as girls, you know playing with dolls😊
My baby brother was just leaning to a creepy around, so I had the tendency of spending a lot of time alone and letting my imagination go crazy.
I was a big fan of comic books Spider-Man, Thor, The Avengers just to name a few.
Life wasnt normal for me as I thought then.
We weren't allowed to play with the neighborhood's kids so I did everything in my power to fit in.
This meant hijacking the cash register of my father's business, (he own a successful restaurant back then) I bought games and toys to impress myfriends at school.
At a young age I quickly rebelled against my parents.
Life at home became boring the streets seemed the most fascinating place in the world to be, so I left home and headed for the streets.
Life on the Streets
I quickly adapted to a life on the streets after dropping of school at age 14.
At this age I was already experimenting with drugs and alcohol. I even had a girl friend of 22 and I was only 15!
By the age of 18 I got hooked on hard drugs and stole and robbed to support my habit.
I got arrested and spent almost one year in prison.
Being called the black sheep of the family, I was ashamed of life. I wanted to change my life but didn't know how to do it.
A brilliant idea came to me. Maybe I can move away from my Island, maybe things will be better some where. A chance to start over.
The Move
The move to a neighboring Island of St Maarten was refreshing.
St Maarten can be discribed as the New York City of the Caribbean. There were many opportunities there. So I became a self-taught intrapreneur.
In the year 2000 created my first Sales and Marketing company. Then in 2007 I opened a restaurant.
Life seemed great what else can I ask for?
Then it happened...
The Fall
The economy in United States crashed and so did businesses in the Caribbean.
After losing big contracts mismanagement of funds I soon found myself in bankruptcy.
I had been through problems before but this one was different.
We had a two-year-old daughter to take care off.
My precious little flower
My daughter's mother my girlfriend at that time, wasn't legal on the island. We were both afraid that she could be deported at anytime.
What would have happened to our little baby girl if that happened?
Then she suddenly got sick.
Doctors said she had a tumor in her liver. Her father and sister both died from cancer. You can guess what we both were thinking.. My whole world was spiraling down on me!
No job, no money, my daughter's little eyes looking at me playfully not having a clue the situation we were in, while my girlfriend was lying on the sofa sick, afraid that the worst thing could happen, we heard a knock on the door. It was time for us to leave!
We had not paid the rent for 18 month! We were being evicted!
However I forgot to tell you this...
The worst thing that had happened...
My worst nightmare...
Me during not so good times
For almost thirty years I had quit drugs and alcohol. Hanging around the wrong people I relapsed back into drug abuse..
Drinking and drugging was the new me. I became a junkie!
My life is over...this is the end..
How can I face my mother and friends who believed in me?
I AM SUCH A FAILURE!
Where do I go from here?
Will my girlfriend die?
Who will take us into live with them?
What will happen to my baby girl?
Well, you will have to wait until my next post...If you can 😉
Until then,
Caribbeanmon 👊