 Greetings, I am Teleg Jodhuri. Welcome to my show, Hourglass Trails. And we are just on the verge of spring. And spring means flowers, butterflies, all the color. That is loving life with more colors. But love is a huge word and it doesn't always come with good things and happiness. Much difficult to accept. It has its downsides. Sometimes you fall into ditches. But the thing is how to pick up ourselves. And seasons will roll by and with the humans come and go. The best of is yet to come with next spring. So that's how we be positive and pick ourselves and speak on some pitfalls that we have in life. Today I have Andrei Dominikas with me as a guest. He is a self-employed person. He likes music. And he will talk to us about narcotics and how he was almost too deep into it. But he managed to come out and be a wonderful father of four children. So here is Andrei for you. Hi, Andrei. Hi, how are you doing? Thank you. I'm doing good and so good because you are here and I wanted to join my show. Thank you again. Yes, definitely. So all that we know about the recent things ongoing also with vaping, thousands of people, especially young generation getting sick with it, even deaths. And the narcotics, that's an ongoing challenge to our society. So tell us, Andrei, how did you begin and what was the time when you went into narcotics? The first time that I ever did anything was, I believe I was 10 years old. My dad was always in and out of jail. So just one day I found some stuff and I thought it was a cigarette. And that was my first time that I experienced marijuana. And just throughout my life I smoked it. That was my first drug that I got addicted to. I was going down a bad path hanging out with the wrong crew. Ended up doing some time. When I got out, I was lost. To me like the world changed in the two years, the two and a half years I was in. So it began like as a curiosity? I mean you didn't know it was marijuana and the cigarette. Everything just changes when you all wait for so long. When I came out I was like, I didn't even recognize anybody, stores changed. Even the slang, the way people talk within the two and a half years. The slang is always changing. So it was like I was lost. And then I started hanging out with the wrong crew again. So tell us more about how, because your life has changed and you yourself are not the old self. But how did you find the new crowd of people who made you a whole new person but at the same time it was a new life again? What did the same group of children say, made or some friends you didn't know? It wasn't even, it wasn't even, I used to make the stories short. When I came out of jail, I started hanging out with the crew. I got introduced to heroin. I sniffed it, I didn't shoot or nothing. I was clueless for three years. I was high every day for three years straight. I don't remember anything in those three years. So did you go to jail after these three years? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What made me take a 360 degree turn was that my girlfriend at the time, she came out pregnant with my first son. And that just made me think a whole different, you know, before I didn't care about anything. I didn't even think I cared about myself, you know. And just the fact that while like in like nine months I'm gonna have a kid, you know, so my whole way of thinking just turned around. I started doing, I started cleaning myself. And what really changed my life was there was a situation that happened. And I was actually on the way to commit a crime. I had a gun on me, it was loaded. And my attempt was to shoot this guy. I was walking by a church. And I have to say that that's the first time I ever felt God's present. That's the first time that I felt him and I knew that he was real. So I was walking by this church and all of a sudden I can't move. I can't move. It was like my feet were cemented to the ground. I had so much anger. I had tears coming down my eyes. Like I was really all messed up in the head. And I only had a vision was just to go do this crime, you know. And I tried to, like I tried to move my feet. Like I wanted to walk but something was holding me still there. And that's when the pastor, Pastor Jack came out and I never met this dude before. And he's like, I've been waiting for you. And that's when I started going to church. And I got, you know, a little more of that. That wasn't the first time I actually felt God though. But that's when my life, first my son, thank God for my boy. He'll be 21 today. Happy birthday, Nathaniel. So sweet. Yeah, he's 21 today. And then God just come in, you know, show me a spot, you know. Like for like years, I just like, how can you believe with something that you can't see? He changed my whole perspective. I'm not like, I know he's real. He's in everybody. You just got to let him out and feel him. So what's your son's name? Who has a birthday today? Nathaniel, Xavier Dominguez. Hi Nathaniel, birthday. Happy birthday from Tulip here and all of us at Amherst Media. And I have your dad here. Brave and facing the world and leaving messages to anyone who has had a rough patches in life. Let's get back to Andreno. So this is like, you would like more said it was like an invisible force, the spiritual self, that somehow came into you to rescue you from the life that was getting you down. I can't, there's no word to explain what I felt that day. But it's more like, it was like gravity was just pulling me down. And I like, I can feel the force is holding me down like I couldn't move. And then when the pastor came out and said, Hey, I've been waiting for you. Isn't that a miracle? That's just like, that just like, I thought I was going crazy. Like I don't even know this dude. And he's like, I've been waiting for you. We've been expecting you. And at that moment you had your gun with you. Yeah, I actually ended up taking the gun out. He asked me, he asked me to give it to him and I didn't even tell him I had a gun. He's like, can you give it to me? I'm like, I don't know why he was, why, why he was talking about, but I just pulled it out to the clip out and I gave it to him. And he invited me into the church. I went to that church for a while. You know, I think he really helped me a lot. I got to give it to the man upstairs though. You know, he's so forced to be reckoned with. He works in mysterious ways. Yeah, definitely. I agree with you. I figured that out myself. Nobody can tell me otherwise. Yes, that is what we say, like God has his own plans. And it will always get worse before it gets better. Wow, that's a good message. Yeah, it will always get, I was in a point where, now that I want to commit suicide, I just was thinking like, what's my purpose? Yeah, I don't have no purpose. You know, I'm just going to be a renegade. And just, the only thing I had in my mind was destruction. You know, because everything that I touched, it just destroyed, you know. And then just, I'm glad that my life took a turn because I'll either be dead or in jail. God forbid. Now, would you like to share more specifically about the kind of narcotics you used? Yes. Unlike which one was more strong? There was only three of them that I ever did. Marijuana was my first one. Cocaine was my second. And the one that really, the most dangerous one that really screwed me up and was taking me downhill was heroin. In Spanish language it's called Manteca. Manteca? Manteca, yeah. I never shot it. I never shot or nothing, but I did sniff it and I had a bad three years. Like I said, I was high. I was high when I slept. I was high when I was up. I was literally high 24, 7 or 3 years. It was black. I don't remember anything, but just, I was high and I was making money. Another way out of the devil pulling me and, you know, destroying my life. Can you tell me a little bit about your work? I mean, how did it strike you? Correct me if I am wrong. Sometimes these narcotics are used to slow down pain and sometimes they are used to... You took the words right. Make you happy. How did it... You took the words right out of my mouth. You felt happy? A lot of people, when they go through pain, whether they were raped, they were bullied, you know, any other stuff that were witnessing in the world right now. Everybody starts looking for that cure to take the pain away and you start experiencing things and people find it in different things. Some people find it in heroin. Some people take the pain away by doing coke. Some people take the pain by doing meth. This one gets rid of the pain by smoking marijuana. You know, it all depends. So by the time you find the one that takes the pain, whether it's like three minutes or an hour, whatever the high, how long the high lasts, that's where, you know, that's where they... So it all depends on... So the high, you mean that's when euphoria kicks in and you feel so... Yeah, you don't feel nothing. You basically feel like you're floating in the air, no worries. And the more... Basically, you know, the stronger the drug when, you know, we're getting into, like, cocaine and heroin and stuff like that, those are really powerful and they're really addicting. And it only takes a long time. Oh, my God. So if you guys, you know, if you guys are out there being... I was... Was it called pure pressure? To doing something? Peer, yeah. That's what I was talking about with my friends. I was singing out with the crowd and they were like, oh, you're a punk, you're a wuss, you're this and that. You know, and I was already high from marijuana. So, and then it's just, you know, one drug leads to another. And that's how it starts. It just takes one drug and it just takes one time. And you're hooked. It is so sad, isn't it? I mean, you came to it, it's just like a curiosity. You, at 10 years old, you had no idea that it's so bad, but it was at home. Well, back then, I used to see my dad and his friends. They used to smoke these cigarettes. Oh. And they used to pass them around and everybody's smoking a cigarette. So to me, it was just a cigarette. Everybody done it. I found one and I found out back some matches with it behind my dad's pickup truck one day and I just happened to light it. And that was the first time that I would try it. And I was... Yeah, it's like, you know, childhood and curiosity both go together. Children are curious. But at that time, I guess it calls for more adults to be more responsible. Like the guns we talk about, whether we should have a gun at home or not, and if we have to be responsible for it so that anyone who is not in the proper senses has a chance to grab a gun. Right? So it was something like this. If it was not within your sight, you wouldn't have a gun. But the only reason why these kids are doing that is because name one game right now from an Xbox or PlayStation that doesn't have a gun or killing unit. That is so true. It's while we instill in our kids that's what they're going to grow up. From the movies, the music, the games. You know what I'm saying? I'm not going to lie. I played them games when I was younger too, you know? Those bad games like Grand Theft Auto, you know? All the kids play, yeah. You shoot cops, you beat up people. It's showing you exactly how the streets are playing it again. So as you get older, in their mind, they think they're Tony Montana. They think they're Oscar Faye. They think that they're unstoppable. Oh, you know, I was a beast in the game. I'm going to go on the streets to become a drug lord or something, you know? Mm-hmm. It's like the craving for power that gets the kids. So even from the video games that have guns and make you feel really good about yourself, yeah. From my experience and me being from the streets, the streets all it has is nothing. There's nothing positive about being in the streets because one of the streets is done using you, is going to chew you up, spit you out, and move to the next one. Oh, my God. So vicious. You know? You got one drug lord right now that's spreading heroin and throughout the city. Once they lock him up and he's doing life in prison for what he did, another one, there's always another one to take over where he's at. Yeah. You know? So it's just like... So would you say, like, if your home or your father did not lead you to the day you started smoking, were there any friends with whom you played outside? Were any one of them involved that made you think that, yes, I want to smoke? My whole life there's only, like, I can count on one hand five people that in my whole life I've only had five real, real friends. Okay. And don't hurt a combine because everybody else to me is an associate. You know, you ever heard that saying keep your enemies closer and your best friend the father's? Yeah, yeah, of course. Because your best friend is the one that knows everything about you. He has all the ammunition to go against you. Exactly. And the enemy has to know nothing about you. So, in reality, your best friend becomes your worst enemy. Your worst enemy becomes your best friend. Okay. Because, you know, you guys don't know nothing about each other, but when you guys start talking, they get to figure out they have a lot, they have a lot of, you know, stuff, you know, the liking and stuff like that. So, as a parent, I mean, peer pressure and our kids at home, it's a big challenge even for the parents. The biggest thing? As a father, would you think is there any way, I mean, if you know that one of your child's friends or son's friends are into narcotics and you want to, is there any way to intervene? What do you mean, like? I mean, talk to the child. Would that be better? Yeah, yeah. I talk to my kids, you know. They know my history. I don't, I never lie to them. They know I smoked here and there. They knew at one point I also had my M.D. card because for that, I need a knee replacement. I got a bad, bad, and I got a torn ruler card. So they gave me the medical marijuana card for the pain. I don't take it, I didn't take it for, you know, to get high, but mostly at night so I can get some good sleep, you know, and I didn't feel the pain. But I only did that for a little bit, but right now I just, just taking it there by day, you know. I got four kids. Nathaniel, it's 21 today. Alexi is 19. Should be 20th September. I got a Zela in Florida, and then I got my little one named Jace that he's three years old. So I think he completes me. He's the one that pushes me. You know, all my other kids, I love them all the same. I don't have one favorite than the other one. I love them all the same. Jace is severe autistic. So I got to give him more attention, you know. And he's my last one. I'm gonna have him no more. So I didn't get to enjoy the life that I lived. I lived back to buy paychecks, you know. I couldn't do a lot for my kids when they were younger like that. So I'm an opportunity right now where I can do that for Jace, you know. But he completes the family. He completes my kids. And that's what keeps me going as my kids, man. My kids. Just take it there by day. So coming back to the family again. So would you recommend, like we know it's very much really outside our home, these vaping or narcotics among the young children. Do you like thinking that if parents or guardians as a family, we had our own times with the children, you know. And explain to them, talk more about them. Would that help? What do you think about that? You know, like giving them a warning before they are into it. Basically not kidding me, just telling them the truth about the world and how the streets are. It's a big step for us as parents to make sure that they understand. Not everybody's a friend. And most of the people out there, they have a mask on, you know. And you don't know who's behind that mask. Until it's too late. And that's true colors. That is so true. So you just got to have a good judgment. And you know, I always thought, especially your daughter, her being a female in this world, and they go through more stuff than men do, rape, you know, abuse. You know, all that stuff. I really don't want my daughter to go through that. Can you call anything to her? You know, to the point that she knows that the first, it don't matter if you're Christian, it don't matter if you're, you know, if you're a regular person. The first thing that a man will tell a female and that he's going to, or that he wants to, is to try to get in their pants. It's just, I don't know, it's a male thing. But the first thing is a lie. And she asked me, why is that? Okay, you got two guys that coming up to you. And one tells you, I'll give you the world, or die trying. How many times have we ever heard that? That's a lie. The world doesn't belong to nobody. The world is not his to give to you. But if somebody comes up to you and tells you, loving you will take my life, but when I look into your life, I know you're worth the sacrifice. See, now, his life is his to give to you. That is so true, such a deep insight. You see what I'm saying? And I was like, there's always signs, there's always keys on just certain things and I instill that to my daughter. So I feel bad for the guy. Yeah, totally. Because she got to take now for nobody. I had to do that to my girls, you know. To keep a close relationship with the children. So we'll come back to you more again. I will just take a short break and come back again. So, Andrew, please, from here, I would like to know from you as after family, what can we more do to help the younger generation and anyone who is into narcotics or vaping to come out of it, to have a life that's called normal in the society to address to the society. So, like, what do you think of the community, neighbors coming together? What did you say to that? I mean, besides coming together, the most important thing is that besides us parents, we try to be... We're not hard on our kids. It's just part of... That's what we have to do, you know. But I think that we need to stop being parents like for a few minutes and actually be their best friends. That's just your mother and father-in-law. You have to open up. Like I said, I don't kidney coat. I can't have a conversation with any of my kids and I just be blunt about it and they understand who I am and how I am and how I speak. So, I have... I'm best friend with my kids. I know everything about my kids, you know what I'm saying? And I think that... I'm gonna say stop being a parent because once you have a kid, that's 24 hours, 365 days a year for the rest of your life, you know? That's what I'm saying. But just step back and interact with them like you're the best friend. Get them to know to talk to you about things. And then... Another thing that I've seen that parents do when they be like, oh, dad, I tried this, I tried that. We get in the... what you call it, like on defense mode and automatically you scream at them and all you're doing when you're screaming at them is you push them back out and they're so mad at you that they're gonna go back and they're gonna keep doing it again. Instead of, okay, you know what, baby? There's something that we need to sit down as a family and talk about it. You see the difference? Yeah, yeah, of course. We're like, oh, what the heck is wrong with you? You know what I'm saying? That pushes the kids. But a lot of times we can't control that. You know, it's like, in your mind, it just collects in like, what is wrong with you? That's bad stuff. Yeah, I mean, that's not wrong. But it's how we approach it. That's what we need to change. I mean, the child is never wrong as a child, right? What he's doing is wrong and he did those things for the children. Not to say like you are wrong. The number one thing the kid doesn't want to do is be yelled at or screamed at. You know what I'm saying? That is so true. So, especially in situations like that, it's something important in their life. And you as a parent, you know about that situation. You have to have a good communication with your kids. You have to be their friend, that just the father, you know, or the mother. That is so true. You gotta have that connection between them. That they're not afraid to tell you anything. Okay. You see what I'm saying? If you yell at them, oh, don't let me catch you doing that. I'm about to beat you. Then I'm going to come to you. You're going to throw them far away. She can go down the street and knock on wood. She gets beat up or raped or something. And she's going to keep it to herself because she knows when she tells her father or her mother, she's going to get yelled at. You see what I'm saying? And that's when in situations like that, she will go and turn to drugs, narcotics, to get rid of the pain and hide it and just have a fake smile that she's okay and when she's really isn't. Yeah. You know, so... So one thing I often come across is like when parents find suddenly or their daughter or son is into drugs and the first reaction is they don't know what to do. So if you are in such a situation, what did you say to the parents? Like, what to do first? First thing first, man, is... We're definitely in some professional help, right? At one point. Abiana, which is professional, is just a bonus. The main key for... for health and to... and that addiction is family. Yeah, but when someone is able to far gone, then... And if they don't have that, that's when they're going to go... you know, they're going to get worse in life if they don't have that. That's the first key, it's the family. Support and love. Being shown to them. Okay, I'm being loved. Giving them the, you know, the will to want to change. You know, oh, he loves me, he loves me, you know. So just, I don't know. So I think one thing that often makes the children go more into drugs is when they feel singled out at home. As you said, not to scream or shout at them, but to take them as a friend and then explain. 50% of the time is pure pressure. Oh. Because they're hanging out with their buddies, they started doing that. Now they are picking on you because you're not doing it, and that's how it starts. Yeah. So I have been thinking lately, is there any thoughts you have, like, is there any role that educational institutions can play in it? I'm sorry, the what? The schools can play in it. Suppose a high school or a middle school, do they have any, do they do something more helpful for the children? Can educational institutions do something? Like, give them more education on it? What do you think? I would say education of more activities. More activities, get the mind, get them, you know, moving the legs, the arms, whatever it is. Whether it's sports, whether it's sports. To keep them busy. Amusing. Yeah. But look at all the athletes. There are many, many people who are big with that, going games, soccer, et cetera. But when they are going back to their fears or the friend, they are into drugs again. So I mean, what do you think? Sacrificing. Obviously, if those friends you have for years, every time you meet up with them and you end up to the same back, all you doing drugs. Now answer yourself this question. How much really are they your friends? Because they were your friends. They won't be pure pressing you to do this. Or come on, take one last hit with me. Or come on, it's been a long time, at least with me. Then you're true friends. So let's think of them collectively. The whole generation that are getting lost. Suppose they had a regular, you know, learning of how the narcotics or the drugs and everything or opioids affect. If they had that at school or any other, that's kind of mandatory they have to take. Do you think they would make them more alert? What do you think? I think it's good for them to... I mean, depending on what the age bracket is, I won't only go so down to a certain age. You don't want to go too young and get that and instill in them and then when they grow up, the other doers think about it and then they want to... I just want to try it. So we got to be careful on how young we go and open them up to that, you know. But I think it goes to age to start as a middle school. Middle school, that's wonderful. That's what I was thinking. Middle school is the first one. I mean, I'm pretty sure it happens in elementary but not so much. More public in the ghettos, you know, where kids in elementary are already smoking pot. But mostly it all starts when you go into middle school and then it all changes when you go into high school. The reality is, Andre, I mean, these days, parents are busy. We cannot deny that. We have to earn all of you. We have to pay the bills. We have to work. Exactly. We have to pay the bills. We have to work or it's a single parent. So we can't even give the whole responsibility to the family, quality time, et cetera, et cetera. That's when I think the school they attend to and the home, they can come at a point where I like to make sure the kids have a good rounded knowledge of what it is, how harmful it is. Often we get into dangers because we don't know about it. Right? So you think the middle school is a starting point where we can tell them more. That's when you need to really open up, especially about sex. And from them about sex. That's the number one thing too, because not just drugs are killing us, too. AIDS. AIDS is killing us. So the most important thing that you got to talk to them about is AIDS. Because once you have it, it just takes one time. Once you have it, you're done. That's it. It's a matter of time. At least with the drugs, you know, you can survive to a point. So the first one, the first thing when it comes to middle school is sex education is big. And then narcotics. Exactly. Those are the two main things that are killing our children today. AIDS and narcotics. Yeah. My friend was, I talked into it the other day, was saying like every flu season, they have preventative measures. We take flu shots, et cetera. But this is one thing that's killing millions. AIDS. I mean narcotics or drugs or opioids. So how come around the year we don't have more preventative things? This is like as we are, it seems we are kind of denial on it until we are on it. And then we want to get cured but how to prevent it? So if we are as a society, as a community, what do you think of the community coming together? As I mentioned that also together, because sometimes telling the kids that you are one here doesn't make much sense. But when the kid sees himself or herself as a part of community where it's not just me, there are other people like me, they are more likely to get in touch with each other also and try to help each other out. Right. So would you think like if you get in a monthly or even by monthly basis a community gathering? I think getting the community involved is always a big thing because it's not just one, it's everybody in the community that you can get involved in with something. But the biggest thing is that I've seen it in the movies. We keep taking stuff from our kids to save money, to save budgets, but that's the one program that we should always keep in time. That should be our priority. It's our children. Not taking the rec center away because you want to make a motel. Why the hell are they going to go? To the streets. They have nowhere else to go. You see what I'm saying? Music. How many schools do you hear that are fighting to keep the music programs up because there is no budget? Why are they going to go? To the streets. There's nothing else. The streets is always going to be there. And that's where all the kids, you know? Yeah, I totally can understand it. The whole energy in the youth. But where to place it? I mean, they have so much to give. And when there is no place to give, they will go into the unwanted places. Right. But now let's talk about some happy things you do in life. I think you like music. Would you like to talk about that? Yeah. When I was going through my rough times, poetry. Wow. Poetry. Poetry. Poetry and music really changed. You know, it changed my life. I started writing down. I started writing down thoughts. Things that I saw, that I witnessed. And then music. When I just want to blank the whole world away from me, I just put on my headphones and put on some positive music. What kind of music do you like? I like it all. To be honest with you, my alternative band is Skillet. I'm actually a Christian. Wow. Well, I'm a band. That's my number one on my playlist that I have is Skillet. And I like Hip Hop. I like rap. I like all school rap though, like Nas. I like Nas, the old Jay-Z, stuff like that. I might enter that mumble rap right now. What's going on? Rap. So what's the current rap that you're following? Rap music. Who's the current one you are doing, following now? I still listen to Nas and Jay-Z and stuff like that. So while we think on that, I think sometime back you shared a poem with me. Do you remember it? I liked it. Something of a poem that you were reciting one day. A few days back, remember about a poem. Do you remember any poem at all that you can just tell us now? I'd love to hear it. Anything you remember? My first poem that I wrote, I was 12 years old. I was 13. I got arrested. And I got sent to this, it was called Forestry Camp. We had to do three months in this island. I was there with people from, there was kids there from, they were juveniles there from California, Utah, Arkansas. Please say you would think that there won't be no gangs or nothing. And they got the most powerful guns. Because there's no gun laws in those small towns like that. I was locked up with people there. I went there from marijuana, but I was people there for crack, heroin, coal, guns, prostituting. So it was just a mixture of all of us. It was good to be, all of us to talk about, because we were all there for different things. Do you remember a few lines from anything? Yeah, so we had to write a poem, why we were there. That was the thing. And it was 15% of the grade, the last grade for us to do. So everybody did a poem about what they were there. I was there for marijuana. So the poem was, it's called A Drug Ticking Within. And it goes, A drug ticking within will make your heart spin. Tingle with your mind thinking someone's standing behind. About to approach the last took of the road. Forget it when it was in your mind. Your heart is crying, your soul is flying. Thoughts are within, just races right out of your skin. Wow. That was so awesome. I was 13 years old. So are you still doing some poetry? I'm always doing poetry. I'm always doing poetry. My poetry to me is my diary. So I always had, I had the thing that people always ask me, how come you don't do a book? Because it's my diary, you know. But I thought about it and I was like, so I gathered up some poems. I put them together. And I said, what to call the book? So it just dawned to me. It's a diary. To me, it's my diary. So you don't want people to read a diary. It's just personal things that you write on it. But the way I write is poetry. Everything is poetry. You don't want to get the rhyme. You know what I'm saying? So I was like, okay, diary. All right, diary, I'm a poet. Yeah, I mean it's totally, it's your thing. That would be the name of the book. If I ever go forward and approach it to it, it would be diary, diary, I'm a poet. I just love the one you told me right now. Excited and that was amazing. It makes me want to read more of your poems. That was the first step for me. I've written and forgotten so many. But that was my first step, my first push. I mean they all come from the heart, but that one was really, that poem always, it's always going to mean something to me. Like where I came from. Yeah, so I'll never forget those words. I will take those words to my grave. I'll never forget them, you know? No, but I can understand your feelings because my own brother is a fantastic writer. He writes, but he never ever goes into publishing. He says, this is my life, this is where I am. I don't want to share it, but I think when you do something that makes you happy and we all have rights to share it or not. Right, right. But if you ever want to share it, you know. Oh yeah, definitely. More than I'm just saying. Every artist, whether it's clothes designing or going off on a set of drums or going off on a guitar or writing or doing poetry or writing music, that whatever one they choose, whatever artist or artist, whatever he chooses, that's his way of showing the world, you know, expressing themselves through that art, you know, and minds his poetry. That's wonderful. And I hope we keep up with it. You know, I always write stuff down, especially when hard times. But you know, there are many platforms these days, out days, online platforms where you can sign up and you don't have to use your own name either. You can just share them. And the feedbacks that you get from other writers sometimes is just awesome. I mean, if you step back to like 30 years back, we didn't have these platforms, you know, where you can just sign up, free sign ups and share your poetry. Like there's one for hello poetry dot com and there are many other like that. I write, nobody changes what I write, but my girlfriend or fiancé, she doesn't understand. Like when it comes to songwriting, people don't just, sometimes they do, but just because you're singing about a sexual song and the couple were cheating on each other, that doesn't necessarily mean that she's going through that. It's that that's the topic that a lot of people are going through and a lot of people can relate to that. That doesn't mean that she was messing around her husband with another dude. That's why I, that's how I write. I write, not necessarily, you have to be something that I witnessed. Like for example, I love to take the bus in the summertime. I have the car, but I like to take a bus because you hear all types of different conversations. Oh totally, I love my bus rides. And a lot of my poetry comes from on the bus because I heard this, I heard this kid saying he puts these words together in a sentence. Like you know how the slang is always changing? Yeah, yeah. I might like a phrase that this kid said, ooh, I like that, I'll wind it down, you know? And the next thing you know, I mean, okay, so this and this, and the next thing you know, once a pen hits a paper, it just goes with the flow and it just goes until you finish, you know? Yeah. So yeah, so a lot of them, I took a bus a long time. But look at it, you are doing all that music, poems, you have a family, you are a great dad and would believe you are in a place one day where it was hard to think that you are alive again. So this is all you. I'm in the greatest place in my life right now, but I'm content, I'm happy with what I have right now. Okay. Because there's people doing worse than what I have. And you got to share it, even if it's the little bit that you have, you have to share it because somebody else wishes that they have what you have. Exactly. You know? That is why we are having conversations today. You know, I'm not rich, you know, I'm not a billionaire, I don't drive a Bugatti. You know what I'm saying, but you know what? I'm content right now. And hopefully my life gets better financially. Money doesn't necessarily make you totally happy. You don't have to be a billionaire. I'm happy, I'm healthy, I got my kids. That's great. So I will be, sadly, have to go and end the show. But before I go, I would like you to mention that sentence about quitting. You just told me a while ago. But just hold on a moment. I'll just bid farewell to my audience. And you will have the last words to the audience. All right. So to anyone who is not so in a happy place in life, it may be many things. It doesn't have to be narcotics. It doesn't have to be opioids or substance abuse or vaping. There are times life is too challenging, but when you trust yourself, the deep within self, that's you, always know that that's the strongest self. And you can come out. It's just a temporary challenge. Just climbing a tree. There are branches, but you can go to the top, climb. So thank you so much to our media for making this show. And thank you to my honorable audience who are watching and are with us today. And before I say goodbye to you, I'll let Andrei leave a message for anyone who needs to find the sunlight again. I'm going to finish off saying that no matter how hard or how tough life is, I've been in a situation where why am I even alive? Why is my purpose here in life? And I just never quit, man. I just kept stepping, taking one step at a time. And I just never quit. You know, don't ever quit. Never, ever, ever, never give up. Push yourself to the limits. And that's it. Just have the mentality that you're always going to win. You're always going to make something better of yourself. My name is Andrei Stominguez. And thank you guys for having me. It's a pleasure. Thank you so much, Andrei, for being the show. Thank you, everyone. Bye.