A Different Street

A DIFFERENT STREET Fall Veggie of the Season: My Recovery Story By Kenneth M. Aswad (GOALS alumnus) My true recovery began in 2007 after years of drug abuse, self-harm and many attempts to end my life. I was tired of Do you like cabbage? Whether it is raw living because of the drug abuse, self-harm and many hospi- (think coleslaw) or cooked (steamed kraut, sweet and sauer, as “pigs in the blanket”) any way you talizations that were caused by a mental health disorder. In like...cabbage is a great vegetable to add to your July of 2007, the 4th to be exact, I had had enough — I want- platter! ed out of this destructive life. I needed to become straight with myself and I needed to clean myself up spiritually, physi- Check out the website cally, and mentally. <www.whfoods.com> to find out what is So I began to seek treatment and find solace. I found it at new and exciting about cabbage. the Buffalo Psychiatric Center’s Gertrude Butler Clinic. I had There is a long history to the healthful- attended many other mental health clinics over the years, but ness of cabbage as both a food and I wasn’t honest with them about my true life circumstances as medicine. The veggie contains vitamins B, C I should have been. I began seeing a counselor and a psy- and K, as well as a host of minerals such as po- chiatrist at the Butler clinic of that same year. I was put on tassium and iron. Cabbage contains a good the drug Seroquel for my bipolar disorder, and the drug Luvox amount of fiber per serving (over 3 grams per 1 for my obsessive compulsive disorder. Within weeks the cup serving!). It is a powerhouse of antioxidants that may be protective against certain diseases. medication began to kick in and I felt a significant change. In the summer of 2008 a friend of mine got me a job in a Did you know the Dutch used to eat peer training program known as the RAMs (short for Recipi- sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) during sea ent Associate Managers). There I learned how to facilitate voyages as a protection against scurvy? peer run self-help groups, communication skills, and effective listening skills and also practiced mentorship. The RAMs And how does it taste… Fantastic! program was the first place that ever asked for my opinion — I mean with other jobs I was told to just shut up and do what Make your own coleslaw with sliced onions, carrots, cabbage and your favorite whipped they wanted, and didn’t listen to any ideas I might have had. dressing and vinegar — or try it with an oil and I met many other peers struggling with mental health issues vinegar dressing. The slaw is a great side dish in the program. Up until then I didn’t think that a disabled — or even as a sandwich topper — it will add a person could work until I became a RAM. lot of extra crunch and nutrition to a hot or cold Eight years later, still being a part-time RAM thanks to the sandwich, or wrap. Vocational and RAMs departments at the Buffalo Psychiatric Cabbage can be sliced or shredded and Center, I have held down a training position for 4.5 years as a added to salad or soups — it will give a nice extra peer specialist at Del-Nor Resource Treatment Center, one of crunch and a boost of nutrition! the many BPC clinics in Buffalo. Here at the Del-Nor clinic I work with a clientele of peers of 50 years and over. Being a Try a pile of boiled cooked cabbage on part of the Buffalo Psychiatric Center these years has been a top of mashed potatoes for an Irish treat! truly enriching experience and I want to say thank you to the This is called “Colcannon.” It is an Irish peasant dish that makes use of potatoes and cabbage many peers, doctors, counselors and the many co-workers (and other veggies of choice, try carrots, kale, that helped me on my journey to discovering recovery. peppers, etc.) — it is filling and delicious! LIFE IS GOOD WHEN YOU’RE IN RECOVERY. Excursions in Creative Writing Prompt: You are an astronaut Coldness and you discovered some- thing: When she stared into my face, I I am an astronaut of could feel her coldness. the future. I was on a mission to go to a black She was a beauty queen without hole to understand a soul. She existed for a them better. We had an experiment to do in- moment, and then disappeared. volving red matter to figure out what was on So much for her. the other side. -P.W. Frankenbrain Once upon a time in a town named Rogersville there was a scientist name Leopald III. He was We thought we could creating a type of being that was do it without our ship going to help him out by scaring getting sucked in because of our engines, the other townsfolk away. No one but it failed. believed that he could create The Magic Flute So the ship was sucked in and we went anything so that is when he There once was a man who to a different time in created this giant being named had a magical flute. He space where I am telling Frankenbrain. would play a song that was a you this story now. story and it would magically -Andrew H. -M.T. make things happen. He would wake up in the morn- Brains! Brains! Brains!!! ing get out of bed and start playing a tune to make Ahh!! Zombie!! breakfast. Then he would go I eat your braainns! out and take his walks No way! It talks! through the woods and play This is nothing like the movies! his magical music so all of Is it ever Brian! Nooo!! Brians!!! the plants and animals would Not Brians! Brains! dance. Then one day he met an ogre who hated his music. The ogre then tried to take the flute but the magical mu- The Pumpkin Carver sician started playing and This is a legend about the pumpkin carver. made the ogre walk off a He was old with long grey hair and scars all cliff. over his face that almost resembled a scary pumpkin. He had land out in the forest and set traps for curious wanderers. Every day he would walk around before morning and check his traps. If he found someone he would take them back to his cabin. Then he would put a carved pumpkin head on them and place them like scarecrows out in a corn field. -Drew —Andrew H. In the summer, GOALS students in Leisure Education plan weekly trips to nearby communities and attractions throughout Western New York. Exploration opens one’s eyes to new experiences, provides inspiration for future adventures, offering a richer sense of what our region has to offer. GOALS went on a nature hike over the summer at Losson Park. It’s a GOALS Students Ride yearly event, but this time was different. This time we had iPads to take on the Excalibur pictures. Consequently, the iPads made the trip more entertaining and more enjoyable. I took pictures of squirrels and deer. But The students from my favorite animal was a woodpecker. Get- GOALS went to the ting its snapshot was challenging, but I per- Outer Harbor and suit- severed. ed up with lifejackets Getting snapshots of squirrels was easier. and boarded the boat The squirrels would come right up to the for a trip around the boardwalk where the food was lying. It was harbor and Buffalo Riv- almost as if they were posing for us. er. The captain enlight- I think we should use the iPads for other ened us about the vari- trips. I think we should document other ous sites that we were outings. -John W. able to see from the boat. On our way back to the marina, we were able to do some fishing On Wednesday a group took a trip to a kazoo from the boat. We factory. It’s also a museum and you have much to stopped at a few differ- choose from, as far as toys are concerned. I ent locations and were purchased a kazoo and I like playing it. able to cast of fishing -Howard Paris lines. All the supplies that we needed to fish In early September, the GOALS visited the Naval Park at with were provided. Of GOALS Center travelled to the Canalside in late August. The park the people that wanted historic Theodore Roosevelt in- consisted of a destroyer, the USS Sulli- to do some fishing, only augural site. vans; a cruiser, the USS Little Rock; one person was able to This is the only National Parks catch a fish, which hap- and a submarine, the USS Croaker; site located in Western New pened to be a perch. York. and a museum. Some of us were While it was fun to be Personally, I got chills up and awed by the size of the ships. Others able to do some fishing, down my spine when I saw the were intimidated by their confining we had to release what exact spot where Theodore Roo- interiors. I tried to envision how a we caught back into the sevelt was sworn into office, fol- water. It was very en- lowing the death of President joyable to be able to go McKinley.

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