This is the story of two childhoods that brought two grown men to opposite sides of a table in Mountain View, one after a life of pain and one of privilege.
The meeting was a little awkward. A fine art painter was recruited to learn about a recovering addict, now a car salesman, and depict how childhood events had shaped his life.
"It's certainly not something that I'm used to," said painter David Pettibone. "I was absolutely nervous going in. I wasn't quite sure of the questions I was going to ask."
Eric Garcia sat up straight and delivered his life story without much prompting.
"I felt a little tiny bit awkward, but sometimes we have to go out of our comfort zone, and talking about it disarms it," he said. "It's sort of a chance to be at peace."
Painter and teacher Steve Gordon initiated the meeting as part of a project to create murals about adverse childhood events and how they contribute to addiction. He uses his University of Alaska Anchorage painting classes to explore social problems, as I have written before.
The idea that childhood trauma leads to adult dysfunction feels true. It is a major theme of literature and film. These days, psychologists score childhood events to help predict a life's path.
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Title image: Recovering addict Eric Garcia, left, talks to artist David Pettibone Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018 at Garcia’s group home in north Anchorage. Garcia and Pettibone are collaborating on a mural that will address the problem of adverse childhood experiences. (Loren Holmes / ADN)
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