Friday, May 1, 2009

Mike? check

We’re back in Mitchell. Brother Mike has agreed to be interviewed. We meet at his office. The walls are covered in hunting photos.

We hear stories from the 70’s. Early days of Robin Hood, the hunting service that Mike and Richard ran together with some friends. Weeks of hunting and drinking. There were some wild times. Good times. In the 20 plus years since, they’ve grown apart and led very separate lives.

“Yes he can make amends. Anything’s possible. But the clock is ticking and time is running out. He’s 69 years old now. Will he make them? That’s the $64,000 question. We’ll have to see”.

While we’re having lunch with Mike and his wife Richard calls to say he’s heading over to a recovery meeting and why don’t we film it.

Josh speaks to the assembled and they vote to allow us to film as long as we don’t reveal anyone’s identity.

The stories of loss and tragedy and broken relationships are heartbreakingly mundane but no less powerful for their familiarity. People shunned by their families, troubled by lifetimes of drinking and battling alcohol.

It feels a real privilege that they are willing to share their stories with us, and we leave humbled.

The day’s not over yet. Richard heads off to make amends with an old neighbor who he owed money to for some building work back when he lived here. The man is now in his eighties but when Richard called up to arrange to meet, his first words were “So are you going to pay me the money you owe?”

He doesn’t say much during the encounter, but Richard pays the first instalment, and then we head over to his old house by the lake.

He’s in reflective mood as the sun goes down, talking about how people here celebrated when he left.

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