Bounce Back Stories gives real people a real place to be heard. No cleanup. No polish. Issue 1 is Saint Micheal, in his own words. Here's a piece of it.
Where It Started
"I am a born, corn-fed Idaho Falls individual who kind of bounced around a lot when I was a kid. I grew up some in Oregon, mainly in St. Louis, Missouri, then came back to Idaho. Now I currently reside in Oklahoma. Childhood was okay — I had a strong relationship with both my parents until it led to me being about 15 or 16. My mother battled meth addiction while my father battled alcohol addiction, so it was kind of interesting going back and forth from there."
Good kid. Split homes. Real weight.
Growing Up Too Fast
"A lot of it did based off of my family's addictions — it taught me how to grow up a little early. There was a lot of things I had to learn on my own. I had to learn how to shave on my own. My brother bought me my first condoms, stuff like that, but it was really me trying to find stuff on my own, figure out who I was as a man and a growing person. So school necessarily wasn't a priority."
He was 14–16 when it started. When his mom got sober and his dad's drinking took over, there wasn't much food or parenting left in the house. He sold to eat. He couch surfed. Music was the only vent he had.
When Coping Became Addiction
"At first they were more of a coping mechanism, just because I learned what they were through my parents' addiction. But then when they entered mine, it was an edge. I felt numb. I felt like all the emotions I had from trauma weren't there. It didn't feel like they existed at the time. Temporarily — until it came down and had to do it again."
It felt like relief. Then it became the cycle.
What It Took
"It took a lot of good friendships. A good relationship with my daughter's mother. Honestly it turned me into a hurtful person. There were times I would borrow money from people telling them I needed help to pay bills, or I was hungry — and people were supporting me just so I could feed my addiction. The late nights by myself — I may have been surrounded by a bunch of other people, but in my head I was alone. I was always a harm to myself more than anything else."
But the part that cut deepest wasn't anything anybody else could see. It was the pictures and videos of his daughter. Knowing exactly what he was missing. Knowing why.
That's where this preview stops.
What comes next is the part we didn't put on the internet.
The turning point. The relapses he didn't hide. The person who showed him it could be done. The morning he stood in front of the mirror and swallowed the hard pills of disappointment in himself. What he said about who your real downfall is — and why he keeps going back to that mirror.
All of it is in Bounce Back Stories, Issue 1. The full interview, uncut, laid out the way it was made — every page, every photo, front cover to back.
Print run is small. When it's gone, it's gone.
Got a story of your own? Real people. Real recovery. Real bounce back. If this one hit home, we want to hear the next one — no polished version needed. Share your Bounce Back Story.
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