R. L. Cushing I'M STILL HERE! I WILL PERSEVERE

I'M STILL HERE! I WILL PERSEVERE is a fictional memoir inspired by fragments of reality. A raw, unfiltered journey through excess, addiction, loss, and the long road toward redemption. Told through the lens of a man who seems to have everything: athletic success, love, freedom, and endless opportunity, this story follows how casual partying in the 1970s and 80s slowly evolves into dependency, denial, and self-destruction. Alcohol leads to cocaine. Cocaine leads to crack. Bad decisions stack up, relationships fracture, and consequences arrive in the form of jail cells, broken trust, and hard lessons that refuse to fade. This is not a polished tale of overnight change. It is a brutally honest exploration of repeated failures, painful self-realization, and the moments of clarity that arrive only after hitting bottom-again. Along the way, the narrator reflects on family, fatherhood, loyalty, and the people who never stopped believing, even when he gave them every reason to walk away. Written in a direct, conversational voice, I'M STILL HERE! I WILL PERSEVERE doesn't offer excuses or easy answers. It offers truth, resilience, and the possibility of redemption for anyone willing to confront their past and choose to keep going.