Chief Black Cloud

Diane, I came across your name on Facebook tonite.

I got sober the year I left the City of Hailey. Very often when I tell my story, I talk about you calling me Chief Black Cloud as you walked through the police department in the mornings. I told that part of my story to 300 people once and they got a big kick out of it.

I want to thank you for doing that. 

I used to say to myself after you walked thru, yea I know I'm depressed...so how the fuck do I fix it? That was the 64k question. 

Nobody ever left a blueprint behind for getting well. 

So after getting divorced, quitting that job, traveling all over the US on my motorcycle- I landed in New Orleans in Oct of 2007. I got sober with a Catholic Priest. This guy. http://lakelawn.tributes.com/obituary/print/84757882

I repaired my life with Des- the biggest hard ass I've ever known. He could make a sailor blush and although he died 4 months after I met him, his influence and his unflinching ability to attach responsibility stuck with me.

I've been sober 8 and a half years and they have been the best years of my life. 

You could never have known how much your observations impacted me. Not because you were mean spirited or anything but because it was the truth. I used to think how obvious it must be that random people could walk thru our office and diagnose my depression. 

Your comments reminded me of a book I once read...the Five People You Meet In Heaven.

So thank you. I hope you are well.

Brian McNary

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