Our guest this week is William "Bob" Schulz who is from Oregon but moved to Colorado Springs at a young age. His living situation in Oregon with his mother was not good as she was battling addiction.The family moved Bob to the springs to be with his father. Bobs father had substance abuse issues but would raise Bob the best he could. Bob tried alcohol with his father at just 16 years old, but he didn't like alcohol, so he experimented with weed. Bob said when he was sober his dad always though he was high but when he was high his dad would leave him be, so he figured why not just be high all the time. Bob had trouble with certain kids in school getting suspended for getting into scuffles. After Bob finished school, he found hard drugs meth, coke, etc. Then he started to find out his friends were doing meth so then he became the local drug dealer. Sold them meth and then bought his in bulk. He got caught up at the drug house eventually and was given a f4 charge from the state.
He then joined/worked at a men's sober living home in 2004. $325 dollars a month that covered everything. He was able to put 10 years of sobriety together. Throughout this process Bob had a son with a lady and got his own apartment and a really good job. Bob then got a Facebook message from his son's mom asking if Bob could take him because she was going through a tough breakup. So, Bob became raising his son again while going to AA meetings and sponsoring guys getting AA tats and finally bought his own house.
The last year of his sobriety he was asked to distribute weed on the weekends and since Bob did it in his past life before he got super, he figured he could handle it. And his thoughts were why not take the extra cash to raise his 10-year-old son. He stopped going to meetings and stopped sponsoring folks, Bob became selfish and didn't think of any consequences. Delivering 40-50 pounds of weed from the springs to Omaha. Then his real job interfered with his runs where he was making 10k a weekend. Bob went out drinking for his birthday and got a DUI and relapsed September 14, 2015, at 2am. Bobs son went to a teacher and didn't feel safe at home anymore. Bob had to get the whole family involved calling his mother from New Mexico so after his 72 hours hold his son never went back home to Bob, he instead went with his mom back in New Mexico. Bob lost it all and wanted to end it all. It broke him. Bob was going to end it all when he got a phone call from a friend who needed something, claiming he saved his life Bob made a decision to OD on meth. So, he would start smuggling again across state lines cleaning his money through a tattoo shop. Bob was told on by an anonymous source and was arrested and taken to prison. Charged with 26 charges at first, he ended up only really being charged with 3. 11 months behind bars on a 5-year sentence. Getting involved with a re-entry program he was offered a job and was able to start being in the yards again and sponsoring. He has lost 140 pounds since 2022 and eventually would become employed at Tribe recovery homes. Bob now rides a Harley and has a new dog while working at Denver health."The biggest thing that I had to learn and am still learning is how to love myself and be accepting of myself and to have real expectations of myself the way I love other people."