Welcome to episode 68 of Bite-Sized Blessings.
In this episode,
I get to interview Ralph Martinez,
And it's really appropriate that I'm releasing it in spring,
The season of renewal,
Revival,
And resilience,
Because Ralph is all those things.
The Santa Fe,
New Mexican newspaper wrote an article about Ralph,
And it was titled,
It's Never Too Late.
And that's so very true about Ralph's story.
From great trial and tribulation,
Ralph has fashioned a new life,
And in this new life,
He's changing the lives of others.
I'm so very excited about this episode,
Because the work that he's doing is so profound,
And affects so many people so deeply.
Truly,
Ralph is the miracle himself.
So I'm just going to stop talking about it,
And introduce the episode so you can hear what I'm talking about.
So now,
Episode 68 of Bite-Sized Blessings.
The first time I overdosed,
I did it intentionally.
I was depressed,
Very,
Very depressed.
It was in late 2006,
So it was,
I had already got kicked out of my home.
That's when I lost my home.
I lost my home in very early 2006.
And then in mid-2006,
Or closer to mid-2006,
I decided to go to rehab,
Because I really,
I was trying to figure it out.
Then I got back,
And then I backslid,
Right?
And then when I backslid,
Man,
It just really felt like I had lost all hope.
I remember being at this place next to the river,
And it was a place that not too many people ever really ever go to.
And I remember I was crying.
I was sitting underneath a tree,
And I was crying,
And I was crying,
And I was crying,
Thinking about where I was at and what to do,
You know?
I decided to OD.
And I shot up some heroin,
A lot more than what I was used to,
So I knew what I was doing.
I knew exactly what I was doing.
I would truly say that me sitting here talking to you at this very moment is a miracle,
Just given the lifestyle that I led,
You know,
And where I was at in life,
The way I was choosing to live at the time.
Like I said,
I OD'd on two different occasions,
And I was able to get a job on the job.
And I was able to get a job on the job,
And I was able to get a job on the job.
And I was able to get a job on the job.
So,
The first time that I overdosed,
The first time I overdosed,
I did it intentionally.
I was depressed,
Very,
Very depressed.
It was in late 2006,
So it was,
I had already got kicked out of my home.
That's when I lost my home.
I lost my home in very early 2006.
And then in mid-2006,
Or closer to that time,
I was in the hospital at the time,
And I was in the hospital at the time,
And I was in the hospital at the time.
And then in mid-2006,
Or closer to mid-2006,
I decided to go to rehab because I really,
I was trying to figure it out.
Then I got back,
And then I backslid,
Right?
And then when I backslid,
Man,
It just really felt like I had lost all hope.
I remember being at this place next to the river,
And it was a place that not too many people ever really ever go to.
And I was crying,
And I was crying,
And I was crying,
Thinking about where I was at and what to do.
I decided to OD.
And I shot up some heroin,
A lot more than what I was used to,
So I knew what I was doing.
I knew exactly what I was doing.
So I did that,
And the next thing I know,
I'm waking up in the back of an ambulance,
And there's a lady leaning over me.
I could see a bright light,
And I'm thinking,
And my ears were ringing real loud,
And I remember thinking,
Where in the world am I?
And she's trying to talk to me,
But I couldn't make out a word she was saying.
I'm looking at her like,
What are you saying?
And I'm putting things in my mind together.
I'm like,
I think I'm in the back of an ambulance,
And I think that they just resuscitated me from ODing.
And then I went back out,
And then I woke up the second time I was in the hospital.
That same EMT was still in my room,
And we talked.
She said that she was glad that I made it,
And I asked her what happened.
And she told me that they got a call.
They found me at the river underneath a tree.
I asked her who called,
And she said there was a gentleman that had found me.
And I remember being so puzzled because I distinctively went to a place where people hardly,
Hardly,
Hardly ever go to to do that.
I went there just for that.
And so she told me the gentleman's name,
And when she told me the gentleman's name,
I knew who he was.
I knew who he was.
I knew who he was,
And he wasn't that.
He wasn't a user,
You know,
And so it kind of struck me by surprise.
What was he doing there?
You know,
A lot of users would go and hide out over there because it was a place where nobody went.
They can go do their thing in peace.
So some time passed,
And I was finally able to see this gentleman,
This guy.
And so I approached him,
And I asked him.
He told me that he had given somebody a ride over there a few days before,
And he realized that his phone was missing.
He said I couldn't find my phone.
I'd been looking for my phone for a couple days,
And then I decided,
Well,
Maybe I dropped it over there.
And so he went to that place to go see if he can find his phone,
And he found me underneath the tree.
And he said when he found me,
I was unresponsive,
That I was really purple,
Purple,
And that he tried to revive me,
Couldn't,
And so he called 911.
And they were able to bring me back.
That,
To me,
I always like,
Even when I think about it,
I kind of smile and I shake my head because I feel like I look up,
And I say,
Okay,
Okay,
God,
I understand.
I understand,
I understand.
So that's a wrap on Episode 68.
Thanks for listening to Bite Sized Blessings.
I'm so very grateful that you take the time.
It's a labor of love,
And while it is a lot of work,
It's so worth it when I have the finished product.
I'd like to take this chance for my listeners to ask a favor.
If you have the time,
It'd be so wonderful if you could leave a rating or write a review for the podcast.
It helps others find us.
And with that,
We'll be back with more like Olaf Bynd Milne inOREAL Counts and other people in need-for sounds business.
With that,
Roitri is aOne love idea.
And with that,
He is Yeah,
In Epilogue.
Realize he 1976.
I Gilles green is my boundary paper regarding merit.
You can read more thats still in other countries in criminal justice.
Their at bite-sizedblessings.
Com.
On the website you can find links to books,
Artists,
Change makers,
And music playlists I think will lighten and brighten your day.
Thank you for listening and here's my one request.
Be like Ralph.
We all make mistakes,
Some bigger than others.
Either we can sit down and let those mistakes define us and do nothing about it or we can look at the mistakes we've made and use them to learn and build bigger and better lives for not only ourselves but our community all around us.
