Eric Zimmer

And then I was in, I played music in bands and I joined a new band and I was going to band practice.

And these folks were, I mean, more messed up than I was.

And I was like, what is wrong with these people?

Well, I mean, what was wrong with them was they were

heroin users.

And one of them said, you want to try it?

And I said, sure.

And that began several years of misery.

Yeah, I had been sober about a week at this point, and I was convinced that I was done.

I was able to see, like, I'm dying, I'm going to jail.

I was done and was sort of excited about the next chapter of my life.

And it was around Christmas, and I went to the Zimmer family Christmas party, and my grandpa handed me my gift, which was an envelope.

I opened the envelope, and in it was $25, which just happened to be the exact amount that one thing of heroin was, a baggie.

I don't know what the hell we called it then.

And immediately, that voice that I wished wasn't there in my head just started up, you know, yelling to go get high.

And I resisted it for a little bit, but not for very long.

And I called my dealer.

who said, meet me at AutoZone, which was the shitty place in Columbus we'd meet behind to buy drugs.

And I remember the drive there.

It was winter.