Life Decisions
“I knew how to be sober. I just had to choose to.” During some of the lowest points of his life, Benny Richardson and his five brothers often found themselves associating with the wrong types of people and getting involved in lawless activities. As a kid, Richardson skipped school and later started stealing, smoking, and drinking.These actions paired with his quick temper landed him in juvenile detention twice. “Once I became an adult, I continued that lifestyle, just on a larger scale,” he said. His drug use became more consistent. At the age of 19, he also started using cocaine.
Along with his drug habits, his participation in robbing and stealing also became frequent. “I thought we all were having fun until we all ended up in the penitentiary together at the same time.” That incident marked only the beginning of a cycle of convictions. Over the next several years, Richardson was imprisoned seven
times. It wasn’t until he was much older that he decided he needed to change. “I just got tired, and I knew if I kept that life I was either going to end up in the penitentiary for the rest of my life or dead from a heroin overdose. I didn’t want to die in the streets, and I knew that was where I was headed.”
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