Richard Andre:  

I was quite the nomadic guy. I lived near Wayne State U, then Mt. Clemens. Today, people would say that I was homeless. I was a bit lost and did many things I was not proud of doing. I was sorry for hurting so many people. I carried that hurt and my own far too long. Back then, I was not ready to own it. My older bro Gary, was attending MSU and he invited me to live with him in East Lansing. I left behind some bad habits, so for about a year, I was searching for myself, I guess. My brother has been a great friend, too. We became vegetarians, did yoga and I found Tai Chi Schuan a soft martial arts. Gary became interested in other things and left yoga and vegetarianism. I still do yoga, only now I use Wii Fit Plus to guide me. My first marriage lasted 2 years. In that time, I got my GED. In 1980, I did the est training in Detroit. I got myself and my life back. I know most people think est was useless. I learned that there was one person who was always there when things went wrong and that was me. I was not my history. I had a history and I could make better choices. I took responsibility for my life then. Before that, I believed that life happened to me and I was a victim. I am no perfect person and I can choose in the moment, a new possibility, instead of looking for pain. I forget that often and am still working on me, instead of others mostly. I had been talking about moving to California, for a long time. Gary lived in LA by then, but I ended up in San Diego. I was homeless again soon after. Some friends gave me a home with them, if I got a job. I did and to this day I am grateful. My second marriage lasted about 3 years. I moved back to Lansing after the divorce. I joined AA and ACA and have not had a drink or drugs since. I went to LCC taking courses leading to CMU and a BS in education. Shocked? Yep, I know...No one could predict me becoming a teacher, but I loved learning! My GPA was 3.44 I married a 3rd time. Diane and I ha...Expand for more