Sorry I didn't respond sooner- busy, busy.
Brad was in Straight for almost 3 years. He relapsed when he was a 4th phaser, so he had to start over. As a sibling, it's hard to say how things really were, but for me, the experience wasn't too bad. I really liked having the phasers at our house on the weekends, and since I was 18, I had some of the adult responsibilities, which felt like I was contrubting.
I've since asked Brad how it really was and he said there were bad times, and good, but I know he wasn't telling the whole story. He doesn't act like someone scarred for life though, so maybe he escaped some of the really bad stuff. (BTW: even though I never experienced any of it, and had an ok time, I can believe it happened- when I describe Straight to others, the word 'cult-like' comes up often)
12+ years later, Brad is doing really well. He has had a good job since HS and is now married to a wonderful lady and they have a 1 year old son. He went through a period where he was dating this horrible, crazy chick and he wasn't a nice person when he was with her. I often wondered if he was using, but he insists no- she was a bitch, so she made him crazy. Ok, I'll buy that. Now he has some medical problems, but they're under control and he and Deb have a nice life together. He doesn't generally drink, but from time to time he'll have a beer and does just fine. (ex: he drank at his wedding)
I had often thought that Mom and Dad overreacted by putting him in Straight. But on the other hand, I also remember how awful things were before that, and I wonder how much worse it would have been. I mean if he's hitting me with 2x4's and pulling knives on me at age 14, what would happen later? It's hard to say whether or not he would be the same person now. How did he escape the abuse that some people suffered? Or, how is it he's not scarred by it? I wonder...
Here's a picture of Brad and his family:
Brad, Deb and Dominic For a while we kept in touch with some people; Len Noe, Chris from Pittsburgh, and Rob Wolfe, also from Pittsburgh. My mom gets letters occasionally from Len Noe's Mom and I guess he's also married with kid and doing well.
