Dustin Harwell
Bio
Recovering addict learning to overcome my past and become my best self while attending college at the age of 53.
Stories (3)
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Facing My Demons
Learning to manage my addiction, bipolar disorder, P.T.S.D., and fifteen years of incarceration has been an incredibly arduous process that nearly cost me my life, but in the end it has brought me the qualities of resilience, empathy, and an overwhelming desire to help others. Spending nearly fifteen years in the Arizona Department of Corrections was traumatic, demoralizing, and incredibly difficult. I was a 35- year-old gay man who had already experienced a great deal of abuse, trauma, and grief when I first went to prison for committing note-passing bank robberies to support my addiction.
By Dustin Harwell4 years ago in Psyche
Taxicab Bandit
I didn’t set out to be a bank robber. I didn’t wake up one day and decide to be a gay, bipolar drug addict. Those are now parts of who I am, and I must own them. Being a gay child in the 1970’s was no picnic. There weren’t words for what I was, but everybody knew that I was different, and they treated me accordingly. A distant father, an overly involved mother: causes, or results of what I am? Who knows, and what difference, anyway?
By Dustin Harwell4 years ago in Confessions
Small Packages
Fading light ran away from my neighborhood quickly, as if sensing the danger that lurked in the alleys and street corners. Daddy said if I picked him up a pack of smokes at the market up the block, he would let me stay up and watch Creature Features, my favorite show. He gave me the note for Mister Crandall and told me to hurry home. Daddy knew it wasn't safe out here, but he was shit-faced drunk and figured I would be home before dark if I ran fast enough.
By Dustin Harwell4 years ago in Fiction
