The evangelical Christian FAITH I'd grown up with sustained me. It demanded that I refuse the drugs and alcohol on offer in our southwestern Ohio town, that I treat my friends and FAMILY kindly, and that I work hard in school. Most of all, when times were toughest, it GAVE me reason to HOPE.
Read MoreOne night, I went out with my teammates. I don't drink ALCOHOL, so I wasn't drinking. This GIRL walked up to me; she was talking to me. She was like, 'Why aren't you drinking?' I was like, 'I just don't drink. Alcohol is nasty.' She said, 'I MIGHT have SOMETHING for you.' She went and got a Shirley Temple. Then I was like, 'Ohhh, OK.'
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