In his earlier years, Douglas C. Atkins (Doug), lived a chaotic life and had no relationship with the Lord. For years, he drank constantly. Each day for nine years, he would go home, guzzle a six-pack of Bud, take a hit of acid, and then decide where he’d party for the rest of the night. After years of being sexually careful, he got a married woman pregnant. Deep into substance abuse, Doug was in no condition to father the child, so the mother, their daughter, and her unsuspecting husband moved down south. Years later, he settled down, got married, and had a son he could call his own. After several failed attempts to foster children, he and his wife eventually decided they would find his daughter and become part of her life. Just as they located her, he learned the worst news possible.
The very week they found her whereabouts, her mother told him their daughter had been savagely murdered.
This launched years of psychiatric hell. Doug firmly believed that if had he straightened up and raised his daughter, she never would have moved out of state, thus she would be alive today. He alone bore the burden of her homicide! His guilt was so horrendous, he acquired PTSD and consequentially suffered nightmares, and hallucinations during the day. He became hospitalized several times. Tried and failed at suicide four times. At this point, he hated God.
After years of intervention, through the love and compassion of his wife, and child, Doug pulled through. But then, his wife became ill. A botched stomach operation – her food tube was put in the wrong place – caused her eighteen months of unspeakable pain due to stomach acids (like hydrochloric acid) leaking on her skin. Ultimately, Cathy died of a sepsis infection. Shortly after, Doug met and ultimately fell in love with a devout Christian. It was through her and a supportive Christian network that turned him to Jesus and Scripture. Through his newly found faith, he forgave those responsible for the killings of the two people who held so much meaning in my life. The deeper he dug into the Bible, the more he learned that Scripture told him he must also forgive himself. Ultimately, he did.
Doug writes as therapy. His efforts have won him five international awards, including an honorable mention in the Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Contest and two honorable mentions in L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Competition. He has been published in Wired Magazine, Reader’s Digest, USA Today, and a few literary journals. His short story scifi collection is due to be traditionally published in late 2022 by A15 Publishing, a company that only prints works by veteran and active military. He is also a past contributor to BetaBoston, the Boston Globe’s innovation and technology blog. He lives on Cape Cod with his wife, where they completely spoil their grandkids.
