Deep Dive with Dr D
Discussions on life and living with Dr D. A man who has risen from the lowest depths of life to the amazing life he has now.
Deep Dive with Dr D
From Dope Houses to Hope
Ever wondered what happens when a life-threatening moment forces you to see your reality through new eyes? That's exactly what happened one December night in the mid-90s when bullets ripped through a Tacoma dope house where I was staying. Had we been upstairs in our usual spot, I wouldn't be here to share this story with you today.
My journey from the streets of Tacoma to where I am now wasn't pretty. Dropping out of high school, accidentally ending up in the military, and struggling with addiction led me to some dark places. The turning point came when I woke up in Pierce County Jail and my sister bailed me out—seeing something in me I couldn't yet see in myself. From there, I began the long process of "peeling the onion" of my life through education, counseling, and honest self-reflection.
The shooting didn't instantly transform me. Recovery wasn't a lightning bolt but a gradual awakening that took time, effort, and support. What I've learned might be the most valuable lesson I can share: while acknowledging your past is important, living there is destructive. Do the healing work, make amends where possible, but leave behind what cannot be changed. Too many people, even those in active recovery, remain chained to their history—replaying mistakes and wallowing in shame instead of embracing the power of now.
This podcast is for anyone who feels stuck in their past, anyone wondering if transformation is possible, and anyone curious about what lies on the other side of addiction and trauma. My mission is to help you recognize the power within yourself to create meaningful change. Because at the end of the day, this moment—right now—is all we truly have. Connect with me through social media if anything I share resonates with you. I'm here to help in any way I can.
Find me on other socials here: https://linktr.ee/davidandkatrina
Diving deep with Dr D. That's me. I'll start each one of these with just maybe a little brief intro on me. I'll talk about things I'm passionate about, I might even share a little story and then I'll get into the topic. So who am I?
Speaker 1:I'm just a kid from the streets of Tacoma, I say I lived a wild ride of a childhood, single mom, raising four of us, in the 60s 70s. I would have graduated high school in 85, but I dropped out in about 10th grade, accidentally ended up in the military and then really navigated life for a little while in fairly functional ways. Well functional meaning I took what I learned from my childhood and adapted to my adulthood, and that meant a lot of moves, a lot of financial struggle and a lot of issues with drugs and alcohol along the way. It wasn't until I kind of came to in a jail cell in Pierce County Jail and my sister bailed me out. I'll never forget that. I don't know why she did to this day, but she saw something in me during that time that I couldn't see in myself. It was from that time, really until this day, that I started peeling the onion of my life. It was from that time, really until this day that I started peeling the onion on my life. I've educated myself in the areas I need to learn about. I've been to lots of counseling. In fact, I lovingly, seriously, kind of say I still have a counselor on call today, as needed. I've been able to navigate my life in a way that I want to give back. The whole purpose of when I do things like this or I speak is I want to help people see that they have it within them to do amazing things. So let me tell you a little story about one period of my life that will never leave me and I think in ways you can use your past in positive ways. Most ways, you should probably just leave your past in the past because you can't change it, you can't do anything about it, but sometimes you can learn from it, you can grow from it and you can reflect back and go, wow, I've come a long way, and that's what this story really shows.
Speaker 1:There's a house in Tacoma. It's just off of 6th Street. It's on 7th in between Proctor and Stevens. I believe this was the mid-90s. This house was a dope house. It was ugly. It was ugly on the outside, it was ugly on the inside and to this day I still feel for the neighbors that were around during that time that had to deal with the nonsense that was going on. I was living at this dope house. The girl was living there, it was her mom's house, she had two kids and it was about as ugly as ugly can get. Just imagine in your mind what does a dope house look like Lots of traffic, not during the day even, but at night. Lots of activity in the middle of the night. It was during the meth years of the mid-90s in Pierce County and Tacoma, and I was all up in it and it was ugly. I even remember when I, when I talk about it like this there, you know, even when I was in it, I could kind of see that I was in it and man it was, it was ugly.
Speaker 1:I remember this one December. It was a night unlike most nights. We we had decided, for whatever reason, probably because we were out of dope or maybe we were going to get dope the next day, I don't remember why. It was a very different night that we decided to just act normal. And what did that mean? Well, the upstairs of this house was where we would do all the drugs. We had it all set up up there and that's where we would usually be is on the second floor of the drugs. We had it all set up up there and that's where we would usually be is on the second floor of the house. Those two young children would be downstairs, left unattended. I think about that and it just makes my skin crawl. But on this particular December night we decided to be normal. We sat downstairs in the living room and we watched TV.
Speaker 1:I remember walking to this convenience store that was just down the alley. It's still there to this day. But on that December day and I think it must have been 95, 94, I remember walking to the store. It was just an eerie night altogether. Part of this could have been fueled by my lack of sleep, drug-induced psychosis, you know, just craziness. But I remember that day to this very day, and for the reason I'm going to tell you. So we're sitting downstairs.
Speaker 1:It's a December evening, during Christmas time, and I remember hearing this car pull up. You could hear it because it had a loud exhaust. You could hear it because it had a loud exhaust. I still hear it to this day, years and years later, and we're thinking, oh, someone will come to the door. You hear the car running, idling outside and then bang, bang, bang, shots, fire. It was me. Her another person was there. We all just hit the floor. She starts screaming. Her kids wake up, they start screaming.
Speaker 1:And this was before cell phones and, for whatever reason, maybe my military background kicked in. But I grabbed the phone on my way down and I called 911. And she's it's just chaotic, as chaotic as you could think, with just literally the house getting shot up. I get 911 on the phone and they were calm and they're like what are you reporting? You know, and I'm like the shots are being fired at the house and, mind you, this house had had 911 calls before, not by us, but probably by many other people, so it was a known entity. The 911 operator told me to stay on the phone, that officers were on their way and I could still hear the car outside. So I'm just waiting for more shots to be fired. I'm just like this is it. It's not going to go well.
Speaker 1:The 911 operator keeps me on the line, says officers are there and I don't know how much time passed between the time I called and they showed up. Probably not too long, maybe five minutes. She walked me through. She kept me on the phone. I wish I could meet her to this day. She said you're going to stay on the phone until they get there. They're out front now and I can hear that car running.
Speaker 1:So I'm thinking, oh my God, what's going to happen? We're going to hear more shots fired. She says they're coming up on the porch right now and I'm like are you sure I can still hear the car outside? She says, yes, you're going to hear a knock on the door. And boom, right when she said that they knocked on the door, I'm like are you sure I can hear the car outside? I can still hear that car idling outside. We're just freaked out.
Speaker 1:So I took a leap of faith and trusted her and I opened the door and there's the police standing there. There's one officer on the porch and one standing off the porch. Other officers are out in the yard and and one's standing off the porch. Other officers are out in the yard and the officer gave me that look because they'd been to that house so many times. Not a surprise they were there again. Officer said what's going on? You got a report of shots fired. I'm like they were here. They shot at the house I know they did, and I'm looking and I don't see the car. The car is gone now. The noise goes out of my head and the officer that was just off the porch. He's got his flashlight and he's flashing it on the front of the house. I don't see anything. I'm like I swear to God. They were shooting at the house and the officer had the foresight. He stepped back into the yard and he shined his flashlight on the upper floor of the house and it was riddled with bullets. Ridled with bullets.
Speaker 1:Had we been in our normal place on that night, I might not be here today to tell this story. You can call it God, you can call it a higher power, you can call it the universe. Whatever you choose to do, but something saved our lives that night. I'll never forget that Now. I wish I could say that it was from that night to this day that I decided to turn my life around. It would take a few months until I would find treatment again, and then I would really start turning my life around.
Speaker 1:In my view, those glimpses into my past can be helpful for me, because they can help me to see wow, I've come a long way. I don't look at that past Now like I can think about the fact that I was an adult in the room and those kids were in that house, and could you imagine if they got killed, and I can be wracked with guilt and shame. But I'm not. I'm not anymore. I've healed from that. I've moved on. I remember seeing the mom years after she found a path to recovery. I haven't been in touch with her since that time period, but I know that she found a path to recovery and hopefully those kids lives have been able to be repaired.
Speaker 1:The fact is is that our past should really stay in the past. I'm really passionate about helping people tap into the power within them to make powerful change. One thing I see, though, in this in the recovery community, but kind of in life in general is people stay stuck in their past. I even see this with people in recovery. They found a path to recovery. Their lives are turning around, but they just can't let go of that past. They get stuck in that past. You got to let it go. Do the healing you need to do, apologize to the people. You need to apologize to Repair the relationships that you can. But other than that, leave the past in the past, because this is one of my mantras that I'm big on it's all we got is right now I'm recording this video at 1018 am on January 8th. This is all we got.
Speaker 1:Friends, I can't say with any certainty whether I'll be here tomorrow or not. You might say, oh my gosh, that's a crazy way to think. I don't necessarily think I'm going to die tomorrow, but I don't know for certain. You don't. Next week, a month from now. Statistically speaking, I got time. I hope I got time. I plan for the future like I got time, but I try my best to live in the now.
Speaker 1:I for sure do my best on a daily basis to just stay out of my past. I use my past in the ways that it can help me, and that's what I want you to do with your past. Do the work you need to do. If you need to go see a counselor, please do. If you need to go to someone and try to apologize, please do. Some people you just got to let go, some situations you just got to let go. Some people may not want your apology, and you know what I learned. That's okay too, and I can't really blame them. I hope everyone's having a great day and I hope anything I talk about during these sessions are helpful for you. You can always reach out to me in my social media channels. You can send me messages. I always say I'm here to help in any way I can Love to all.