Dennis Cantrell in Memoriam 1954-2022…

Originally posted in our April 2020 newsletter.

Hi, I’m Dennis and I’m an alcoholic, drug addict and pill popper. I am 65 years old and grew up in Arkansas. I came from a family of alcoholics and when I was 9 years old, my parents went through a bitter divorce. As a result, I ended up in a foster home. I was sexually molested by both the Pastor and House Manager at the foster home. This had a profound effect on me for my entire life. I kept running away from the foster home. I felt ashamed, embarrassed, guilty and confused because of the sexual assaults. I kept this dark secret for many decades until I was brave enough to discuss this with my therapist. Every time I ran away from the foster home, they caught me and sent me back. After one year of continuously running away, they let me stay with my father.

At age 13, I started hitting the bars with my fake ID card. Before you knew it, I ended up in a reform school. Because of my poor life choices and selection in friends, I gravitated toward harder crimes. At age 16, I was caught in an armed robbery of a liquor store even though “my gun” was a hidden hand in a pocket. I was in and out of prison for the next 25 years, all because of my drinking and drugging. The only two good things that came out of prison is that I earned my GED and learned a valuable trade as a maintenance man.

My health has been poor because of my substance abuse and poor diet selection. In a span of 10 years, I had 3 heart attacks with one so severe, I had to be on a heart pump for 4 days. I am so thankful that God kept me alive.

I first appeared at Soul’s Harbor in 2007. I have come and gone several times in the last 13 years, but I was never serious about getting sober. Brent told me that one day “it would click”. He also thought I was one of his best maintenance men at Soul’s Harbor, so Brent always welcomed me back. But in November 2018, I was “sick and tired” of being “sick and tired”. I decided to get a sponsor and work the 12 steps. Boy, did my life change. Next month, I will be celebrating 18 months of being sober and clean. Thank you Soul’s Harbor for a life I could not imagine. You saved my life!!!