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Life is all about choices.
Graduates from Terrebonne Parish’s DWI and Drug Treatment court program received a second chance to make better choices in their lives.
District Judge John Walker said drug court gives its clients the opportunity to rethink their decisions in hopes of avoiding tragedies in the future or spending the rest of their lives in jail.
“When it comes to drugs and alcohol, we feel like these are some of the things where we really have an opportunity to change and fix the situations,” Walker said. “Our drug court is based on a team approach.”
As each of their names were called, it was evident each of the graduates formed a bond while working toward their sobriety during the course of the program.
Joel Dawson said the program made the difference in his life. In 2011, he had enough of the lifestyle he was living.
As a combat action veteran of Operation Desert Storm, Dawson was living in a homeless shelter for veterans. Walking back to the shelter one night, it started to rain and he took shelter near the then- abandoned Dupont’s store.
“As it rained, everything that happened to me over the past year and a half finally came full circle and it hit me like a ton of bricks,” Dawson said.
He prayed to God, “I cannot live like this and I need your help.”
Dawson finished his prayer, and at the same time a truck splashed a puddle onto him. Ready for it to be over, he started walking toward the Houma twin spans. There, he knew his problems could end at the top of the bridge.
“You find out suicide is real easy to do,” Dawson said. “In that little moment of time, I had the power to control life and death in the palm of my hand. In 45 years, for the very first time, I knew that I had my life in my hands.”
With all of that control, he avoided his intentions for going up the bridge, and he decided to live a new life.
“I walked down the bridge and walked away from my old life,” Dawson said. “My life was changed by a simple puddle of water.”
Now, Dawson’s life focuses on his insurance business and a book set for release on Easter entitled “The Puddle.”
Tommy Boudreaux’s life has also experienced a “transformation,” having been sober for more than two years in February.
The former LSU Tiger defensive back from 1979 to 1982 said he relied on alcohol and drank and drove for 30 years.
“Life is about choices and a consequence always follows those choices,” Boudreaux said.
At the age of 15, Boudreaux got his driver’s license and realized the local convenience stores would sell him alcohol.
At the age of 17, as a high school senior being recruited by LSU, Boudreaux made the choice to drive home to Montegut from Thibodaux after having seven long island iced teas.
He remembers calling his father, “I wish I was dead. I totaled your truck.”
Years after his first incident and days at LSU, Boudreaux received a DUI on his way home from the Hercules Parade in 2012, which led to his beginning with the Drug Court program.
“It’s been a life transformation and I hope to spread that message,” said Boudreaux, who is now an algebra teacher at Ellender Memorial High School.
Dawson and Boudreaux hope to share the stage together as motivational speakers in the future. They intend for their message about life’s choices and second chances to help someone else who is experiencing difficult times in their lives.
Danny Smith, coordinator for the DWI/Drug Court program, said the counselors have a special commitment to help their clients through supervision and treatment.
“The only way you don’t make it here is if you quit,” Smith said. “We will stick with you as long as you want.”
There are currently 50 drug courts in the state of Louisiana, Walker said.
“We are fortunate that our supreme court and others have helped to facilitate these programs because they change lives,” the judge said. “This was never about punishment.”
Tommy Boudreaux talks with District Judge John Walker and his wife about his graduation from Terrebonne Parish Drug Court on Thursday. Boudreaux said he started drinking at the age of 15 and relied on alcohol for more than years before the program “transformed” his life.
