My story. My memoirs.

For a long time, people have told me I should write a book.

So I finally have.

This book is my story.

It contains a lot that I have never shared publicly. Some of it hasn't even been shared with many of the people closest to me.

These chapters are written from my memories, my experiences and my perspective of the life I lived.

Some parts will be confronting.

This story deals with childhood trauma, grief, addiction, homelessness, suicide attempts and other experiences that may be difficult for some people to read.

Reader discretion and, perhaps more importantly, an open heart are advised.

I’ve deliberately kept each section short so I can share these memoirs here on social media, one piece at a time.

Every day I’ll post another part, starting right at the beginning and working through the good, the bad, the ugly, and eventually to where life has taken me today.

This isn’t just the story of Nourish Street.

It’s the story of everything that came before it.

I grew up isolated on a farm, in a deeply religious environment, believing we were living in the last days.

At 14 or 15 years old, I ran away and found a father I hadn’t seen since I was six.

When I turned up at his door, he didn’t recognise me.

From there came alcohol, marijuana, methamphetamine, around 25 years of addiction, relationships, fatherhood, homelessness, some incredibly dark places, and eventually rehab.

Then came 1 October 2023.

Sobriety.

And somehow, out of everything that came before, came Nourish Street.

Today I spend my nights walking through parks and streets helping people living through circumstances I understand more than I sometimes wish I did.

These memoirs aren't written to make me look like a hero.

Far from it.

There are things in my past I'm proud of, things I'm ashamed of, people I've hurt, mistakes I've made, and parts of my life that aren't easy to revisit.

I won't sanitise my past to make myself look better, but there are some parts of my story that I won't share publicly because of their deeply personal nature.

Some experiences involve other people whose privacy deserves to be protected.

This is my story, but not every part of somebody else's story is mine to tell.

What I do share will be as open and truthful as I can make it.

I'm sharing these memoirs because if my life has taught me anything, it's that you can't look at somebody during the worst chapter of their life and assume you know how their story ends.

I certainly never imagined mine would end up here.

One short section at a time.

One every day.

📖 THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET