Andy Marsjanik was a man who lived alone, worked alone and for over four decades drank alone. He was by no means friendless. Everyone in his small town knew him and most loved him. Andy had a quick tongue-in-cheek wit, a heart of gold and a mean golf game. He had many qualities that allowed folks to overlook the drinking. But Andy couldn’t overlook it himself.
After years of struggling with alcohol dependency, untreated depression, and hitting rock bottom twice, Andy found sobriety that he kept for nearly three years. But, in typical Andy style, he decided to manage recovery alone, too. His self-prescribed treatment was journaling, which he intended to someday release as a book to help others who were struggling with their own substance-induced demons. Sadly, Andy never had the chance to complete his project. He died of suicide in 2017.
The newly published book, “We Got This, Kids,” is Andy’s story told in his own words. It provides his innermost thoughts about his life choices, his alcoholism, his sobriety, all told in real time. Andy was excited about completing this project and hoped that if it helped only one person it was well worth his efforts. At the time of his death, the memoir was partially finished.
Close with his brother and sister, he sent them his journal entries as he wrote them. “He had been sending his real writing to us in real time. I loved how he tied his intelligence and humor in his writing as he did in living his life,” said his sister Amy Marjanick Law. “It struck me, after I took a long hard look at his work, this material potentially will help people. I had been encouraging him to write it, after he passed, I wanted to move this project forward.”
Amy Law is neither author nor editor. She is a registered nurse by trade. She knew she was going to need some professional help to complete Andy’s work. A friend recommended that she meet with New Hampshire author and editor, Jeff Deck. Over the course of the next two years, punctuated by the pandemic, they worked together virtually on the book.
Deck organized Andy’s entries and conducted interviews of Andy’s friends, family and one-time fiancé to complete the memoir. None of Andy’s writing was altered in any way.
“My primary area of interest is fiction,” said Deck. “But I was immediately struck by the importance of getting Andy’s story out to the world. I believe Andy’s struggles, told in his own voice, could be of so much help to people who, either directly or through their loved ones, are anguished by issues of addiction, mental illness, and loss. Which, especially in these trying times, is pretty much everybody. I’m no exception.”
Deck spent his formative years living with an alcoholic step-parent. At the time, and for many years afterward, he processed only the misery his stepfather caused him. “But in recent years, I’ve finally been able to feel compassion for the misery he must have been going through himself,” said Deck.
In this exceptional book, the reader will truly experience the frustration, self-doubts, self-recrimination, the highs and lows told by the person journeying the complicated road of substance dependency and depression. The reader also gets to know and laugh with a funny, likable, generous man who happened to have a chronic illness that ultimately took his life. Take a walk in his shoes.
“We Got This, Kids” is currently available at Amazon.
■If you or someone you know is considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
■The N.H. Community Behavioral Health Association is an organization comprised of 10 community mental health centers throughout New Hampshire. The association serves as an advocate for a strong mental health system across the state. Call 225-6633.
■Riverbend Community Mental Health provides specialized behavioral health services for children, adolescents, adults and their families. Call 228-1600.
■NAMI N.H. is a grassroots organization of and for people of all ages, their families and friends who are affected by mental illness. Through NAMI N.H., you’ll meet other individuals and family members who have struggled with mental illness. Call (800) 242-6264.