Kaleidoscopic true stories of born-and-raised Northern Virginians
Photo by Jenny Cutler Lopez
Chris Turner, 55, Front Royal
These hands:
1. Built tree houses, forts, slot cars and big holes in Alexandria. “From a young age, I loved doing what older people were doing—my dad, his friends, my older brother—building and fixing things. We always had access to hammers, nails, wood, saws [and] hand tools, so we liked making things and wiring things up. We’d nail boards to the tree and climb up and nail planks to different limbs to sit. When you’re a kid, you like to have a place to just go and sit.”
2. Picked up alcohol and drugs at 11 years old. “When I was really young I learned when you didn’t get what you want, you get violent. As I became smarter, stronger and [started] thinking about using weapons, that was when I discovered substance abuse. The one took over the other. I exchanged an obsession with violence with an obsession with drugs and alcohol. And that went on for 18 years.”
3. Hitchhiked to Mississippi at 14 years old. “My family dissolved, and my father moved down to Mississippi to live with his sister. I wound up living on my own as much as living with him and a couple months here and there with my mom, but at that point I was pretty much cut loose on my own. I didn’t go to high school, but I worked odd jobs here and there.”
4. Learned to construct, renovate and repair buildings throughout Northern Virginia.“I had my first tax-paying professional job at 16 years old—painting houses. What I like most in my job now is the intricacy and precision of trim carpentry and tile work. I also enjoyed large-production jobs like framing houses. We used to show up, there would be a pile of lumber, and a week later we’d walk away from a five-bedroom house sitting on a foundation waiting for shingles. Construction really put something back into my life. There is a sense of accomplishment. You can see progress. You can watch things go from raw material to something I produced.”
5. Held a cigarette as he decided to seek help for substance abuse in Arlington. “I had it arranged just perfectly. I couldn’t pay rent twice in a row, but I could always supply whiskey, beer and drugs. I was making $16 an hour, which wasn’t too bad. I worked for a guy who was an alcoholic as well. I was working back in Virginia when I had another blackout. When I came out a week later, a voice said to me, ‘if you drink, you will die.’ I was struck sober. The same voice told me a week later to go to the hospital. What I thought was withdrawal was pneumonia. A nurse suggested I go to this meeting on Wednesday night. I remember that Wednesday afternoon standing outside having a cigarette thinking about it: Something in me told me I escaped hell. I didn’t feel free—I didn’t feel good at all—but I knew I didn’t want to go back to drinking. I decided to go to that meeting, and I’ve been going ever since.”
6. Heal people in hugs. “My primarily purpose on this planet is to love people unconditionally. If I’m just sitting in a chair, it’s difficult for someone to benefit from that, but when someone is hugged, a person changes. Whatever energy, wherever it comes from, helps us when we are hugged. I know the healing is not really from me; it’s just through me. I can’t explain why. I just allow it to happen. It helps me as much as it does the other person. So yeah, this is one of the most important things I do.”
7. Play acoustic folk, bluegrass and country on the guitar. “I picked up the guitar just over four years ago. I went with a friend to be a vocalist for him in a bar. After singing with him for four or five months, he offered to give me guitar lessons. We play every Sunday night. One of the songs we play is from 1842—’Old Dan Tucker.’”