A Letter from Eric Clapton

Eric

I need your help rescuing someone very close to me who has been addict to opiates and now heroine for the past 10 years. I worry that time away from those that love her and away from those she loves will cause her to simply give up on recovery.

As a hobbyist songwriter I can hear the truth in your lyrics. I hear your passion speaking to me .

Please help me get a wonderful human being gain sobriety before she becomes another statistic.

Thank you.

Dear Eric I am a 63 year old semi retired blues musician with a life long alchohol addiction.I have been through various rehabs but with only temporary success.Can you help?

First of all thanks for offering help to those who need it.

My story is just another one in a million that offers similarities to other stories.
I wish that it inspire someone to take help.
–

I wasn’t die-hard drinking, but it was about to go out of control, slowly over 17 years.

My turning points were ruining the wedding day of my brother.
This was not enough I also made one of his biggest life goals (a book release party) a mess.

The obvious cause was drinking, and thank God I was no longer downplaying my problems.
On top of the alcohol three were three packages of cigarettes a day.
I told myself it won’t hit me, but my 35-year-old subconscious mind knew – chances are great that I won’t turn 50.

Today I know it was good to reach two bottom points, because I stopped drinking and smoking.
I asked a psychiatrist for help.
This was the beginning of a life long journey.

I was not only facing big emotional problems, being a covert-narcissist.
The psychiatrist diagnosed, that I suffer from ADD.
(ADDs often use drugs for self-medication, without knowing what is going on.)

My low point is ten years ago.
There was only one situation when I was about to drink again.
Ironically it was my brother who saved me. (Thank you.)

I still try to fix relationships, some I may have ruined forever.

• I had to learn to accept myself, to heal my inner child.
• I had to learn to accept bad days for what they are, we all have them.
• I had to learn to let others be, to operate on eye-height.
• I had to learn that life is not a race, it’s not about winning.
• I had to learn to take criticism, learning that it’s alright to take it.
• I had to learn to forgive people, even if they abused me when I was a child.

And there are many more things to learn for me…

It does not matters who you are.
A rockstar, or a welfare recipient.
The causes of any addiction are deeply buried, and it’s no shame to ask for help.

I am now 45 years old and still alive.

My name is Brandy, and I’m an alcoholic … I actually used to joke that’d be a funny thing to say at a meeting. Until I realized that I would be saying it when I found the strength, and that it would be what saved my life
My husband and I were together 13 years. We used to crank a greatest hits CD of Eric Clapton as we cruised down the freeway in whatever cheap little car we currently owned. We would be the tunes and belt them out. Even my 2 oldest kids would sing (they were 9 and 5) while my baby bobbed his head. Mt husband was an amazing man, who supported me, loved my kids and did everything passionately. Unfortunately , he also drank and abused prescriptions passionately. He had childhood demons, and he was a writer. He was brought up in rural Montana where you didn’t talk about feelings. So, sensitive men who would never admit that’s what they are drank. It came and went, waxed and wanted. We were inseperable, even when I was pissed off at him for whatever dumb thing he did while drunk. I resented having to always be the responsible one. But I loved h SO much. He even took work as a ranch hand and mechanic, long tough hours, so my kids and I could have a nice place to live in a safe place. The romance never died. I looked for work so he could quit the ranch. Then he sang “Beautiful Tonight” to me as he held me close and we slow danced.
Then on August 31, 2015 he died. We were visiting our hometown on a quick break from the ranch. He got super drunk the 3rd night we were there. We argued, I took the kids to my mom’s while he stayed with his dad. My mom woke me up the next morning and broke the news.
The first year I did my best to take care of the kids. I got scared of something happening to them, so I started homeschooling them. I had drifted away from friends, and I had to move back to my hometown because our house belonged to the ranch and they needed to find a replacement for my husband. So after that first whole year, I was alone and just broken. I couldn’t listen to our favorite artist because I’d cdc, and it scared the kids. I was scared at night. Both of being alone and because I thought I was going crazy. I started to drink a little wine at night so I could sleep. Them it was a bottle. Them 2 bottles. Then a pint of vodka, and then a fifth. I somehow functioned, but not well. My poor kids barely had their mom at a time when they really needed someone.
The day after Thanksgiving of 2017, I almost died. I was sent to the hospital because I overdosed on painkillers (not my pills) and I went and sat in the frigid cold in just a skimpy robe. I went from the hospital to treatment. At first I was angry and reluctant. After a few days I warmed to the idea of being a mother again, and to the idea of starting to heal, like Austin would have wanted me to. So I applied myself . I remembered a mention I had heard on a tv show about crossroads. Of course I’d have given anything to go, but this was urgent. I didn’t have time to apply for scholarships or find transportation. But I did think a lot about how if this is how I felt after losing a husband, I couldn’t bear the thought of how our rock idol felt at losing a child. I vowed to never, ever take mzly kids ory own life for granted again. After treatment and going to meetings a lot, I was able to slowly listen to Eric Clapton again. If my husband’s favorite, Layla unplugged, came on, I turned it way up. Sang it out. If promises, pretending, layla, or change the world came on I sang without seeing if I sounded good. It felt good, the best feeling I’d had since Austin died. I couldn’t listen to tears in heaven. Time can be d your knees doubled me over, thinking how he must have felt when he wrote that. I slowly gave it a turn, as it was one of my husband’s favorites. I could stand it, and it stirred emotion in me every time. Every concert that I saw on YouTube where he sang it, it felt different. The last one I saw, Slow hand at 70, was the most hopeful version I felt I’d heard. I found myself realizing I watched the evolution of grief, and how in the end you can find yourself feeling conflicting sad/joy… You can miss them with all your heart, but open your heart a little more and feel hopeful and warm and loving without so much pain.
I am so glad his music exists and I am so glad he has provided the world with a beautiful facility and mostly the inspiration he gives.
I hope he keeps it up a long time.

Can Crossroads facility treat people who have been on methadone and other pain meds for over 20 years, after two back injuries and operations? I have read where it is very difficult to stop taking methadone and takes a long time, compared to other drugs.

Start my day with an Early Bird meeting that I went to before work when was teaching in Baltimore City. Starting the day with a meeting especially a pandemic helps. My beloved Wayne Andrew passed from side effects of “Walking while Black” on way to an 8:30 meeting house sand cat sitting and doing time for crime he did not do because he would not plea bargain. Election year and ” cleaning up the streets” . He never fully recovered because at 55-,62 for next year’s only getting temp.night work factory and development of high blood pressure over stress. However he was sober and spiritual. I miss him dearly . He was my soulmate 19 years and concert companion! I have not had to drink about it.abd just did Black Lives Matter walk in honor of him and my 41 years if children with disabilities. in city schools. Get a vision to work for when I stay sober and service to others in and out of room is the answer. God bless you in your journey! One day at a time!

I have 11 years clean and I’m grateful for facilities like this.

I have a 48 yr old son who has been to Cumberland Heights, completing their program successfully but the returned to his wife and son which was a toxic environment. His now exwife has been a longtime drug user, planning his welcome home party with all of the usual friends with drugs. He left the house but eventually caved. That was many years ago. He has descended into a darker drug filled life. We have withdrawn money and support , hoping he will consider a better path forward. He has mentioned such a path this morning for the first time. Are you affiliated with Music Cares? He has some health insurance but no clue what it covers. Looking into it!

I help My son in every way. He is cocaine adicted.
Please accept him for Treatment.
My name is Ângela Cunha
His name is Akira Cravo.
We come from a famíly of fine art artists in Brazil.
His father died of câncer when he was 17.
His name was Mário Cravo Neto Photographer.
His grandfather was an sculptur Mário Cravo Jr

My name is Annmarie. I have an addiction of alcoholism and anxiety. I am working hard to remove hardships from my brain and letting my soul roll them straight off my shoulder. You are not alone.

I have heard about what Mr Clapton is doing to help people. I know that he will give grants, waivers for a person in need. I am asking for help. I am ready to fully commit to saving my life. Thank you

Dear Sir/Madam, I lived in the United States, I have a family member who is in desperate need of your help and is currently living in Trinidad all alone. He is a drug addict.

Please how can I get help for my daughter who’s heart has been infected and valve replaced. 3 months later she is back shooting heroine. The 1st time many years ago my daughter at 18 was put in a rehab we had tix to see Eric Clapton at Madison Square garden. We sat there in tears for us, Eric and our pain. She not us are financially able to afford the astronomical cost but she is back in the hospital on strong IV antibiotic. If she survives she needs intensive therapy and long term rehab.
Can you please guide me. She is going to die. We live in Tampa Florida. I don’t want to lose her. She is a good hard working person with a addiction she can’t fight alone. She wants to live.

Eric, My 31 year old son is an alcoholic. He was addicted to heroin at age 18 & went to a rehab in Florida for 3 months covered by my husbands ins. He relapsed after a year. Several overdoses & car accidents later we sent him to another center in So Cal. He spent a year & did remarkably well. I kept him covered under my husbands ins in case this happened. Over the past several years he’s been close to death & through all the local rehabs his CT state ins will allow. He’s always excited to be sober when he gets back but eventually relapses. He needs your help. I’m afraid I’m going to lose him.

Thank you. I’m still clean

Welll hallo my name is John andbi live in Greece!!i am an addict for about 25 years with a ten year interval!i have studied addiction councelling at the university of bath and become a councellor in my interval!i worked in a detox center the best in greece and i was veru good in my job!the years that i was sobber i mean smoking only some joints at night i had a relationship with a girl which i loved and love. Very much!my truth is that i had made my girlfriend the reason for being sobber or lets say healthy and respectful with myself!in 2019 i started having some lines of cokaine once a month lets say and then benzo ro relax…i am not the kind of a guy that can use drugs and especially coCaine with lets say a border…and i will never be that guy!so i wanted to have a family and she was not feeling stable to move on with this with me!Here there is alot to say so i move on quickly..after several fivhts we broke up two years before!!from then to today if gou put out 3-4 months this year i smoke krak snorting heroin for being balanced and taking benzos ain a daily basis!i am a heavy user but i am also very how can i say capable of doing rhings while i ise drugs!i also have or had a strong system that kept me alive until now what can i say!!right now i can admit that i need again help in a daily basis because i am really tired of trying to Quit or with teting to convince myself that i can!!I CAN NOT!haha!i am thinking to try tour programme that is similar ro what i have studied and being apatient !!thats it for now i hope i will not abundone myself because i donot deserve this !i am 42 now and i am afraid of some thoughts i have for the first rime that are telling me to surrender in drug abuse!thanks for spending time for me!!!

I am a 67 year old alcoholiC and need your help now. Please help me if you can?

I visited the island in 1998 and learned of your program from the locals. What an amazing place for healing.. It is a journey well worth the take. I am so very happy that this facility is still not only inspiring, but is also supporting those who can’t afford the good care they so desperately need. I was a travel agent back then and now I am a TV producer who would like to find out if there’s an opportunity for us to potentially collaborate on a project that would offer exposure for the facility but yet keep The anonymity of a clientele. We have a television show called the edge of adventure with Adam Asher. And our next season, we will be highlighting 8 to 10 non-governmental organizations that provide support for people in various different ways. We would like to bring along with us on this journey, Musician, who himself suffered through addiction and potentially talk about the good that programs like these can do for areas that might not have the financial support as individuals to provide care and healing for the family. I actually saw the facility when it was first built. It touched me then and it still touches me today. Bless you for all the good that you are doing for the community and the families affected by addiction. Part of the special reason I want to do this program because I recently lost my older brother to the final stages of alcoholism and addiction. I couldn’t save him Although I supported his recovery in the end, it was just too late. He was so talented and smart. He was merely 63 years old.. No matter the outcome of this conversation thank you for loving people

God bless slow hand for this