AT FIRST, IT WAS ALMOST IMPERCEPTIBLEA FAINT ORANGE LIGHT at the edge of his vision as Nick Bostic drove down the streets of Lafayette, Indiana. Bostic rolled past the two-story house before he could process what he was seeing. Then he slammed on the brakes. Oh my God, he thought. That house is on fire.
It hadn't been Bostic's best night, but it hadn't been his worst either. The 25-year-old-burly and 6-foot-3, with a messy beard that often framed a puckish grin-was still figuring out how to make his way through a life that hadn't always been easy.
Bostic had spent his childhood shuttling back and forth between his mom in Lafayette and his dad in Arkansas, with neither home providing the love and safety that he needed.
If you'd asked his friends to describe him as a kid, Bostic says, they'd probably have said "a fool." He got into trouble, acted like an idiot, tried to use humor to make friends but never quite got it right.
As he got older, his troubles got more serious. Bostic began using methamphetamines. He lost friends to suicide. At times, his own life didn't feel worth living. But over the past few years, he had started to turn things around. He'd quit hard drugs. He had a girlfriend, Kara Lewis, and was working at a Papa Johns making pizzas. If people around Lafayette had to describe him now, they might say he was a guy with a big heart who maybe didn't know exactly what to do with it.
That night, July 11, 2022, Bostic had had a petty squabble with Lewis and he'd stormed out of their apartment, leaving his phone behind so she couldn't contact him. He filled up her car with gas, then smoked some weed in an auto-parts store parking lot; he liked to go there when he needed to be alone. He looked up at the stars and sat in silence for 15 minutes or so. Then he decided to head home. He was on the road back to the apartment just after midnight when he saw the house on fire.
Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Reader's Digest US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Reader's Digest US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Pier Pressure - A brutal storm rips a floating beachside store from its moorings, sending it and its occupants out to sea
A brutal storm rips a floating beachside store from its moorings, sending it and its occupants out to sea. It was around 6:30 on a June morning in 2023, and a Facebook post caught Boyd Jordan's eye. Shell Isle Mercantile, a floating store that sold beachgoing fare-sunglasses, inflatables, food, umbrellas-had been ripped from its moorings on Shell Island, just off Florida's northern Gulf Coast, by a storm the night before and had floated 3 miles across the bay to Panama City.
Do You Kiss Your Dog? - Find out how gross your questionable habits really are, according to health experts
I admit it, when it comes to food, I have some eeew-inducing practices, like skimming mold off old cheddar and feeding the rest to my unsuspecting family. We're still alive, so how bad can it be? Because our gross human habits fall somewhere along the spectrum from mildly cringeworthy to full-on repulsive, I reached out to experts to find out where some common behaviors land on the gross-o-meter.
What's Ailing Our Doctors? - Today's physicians are burned out and battered by spreadsheets. We patients suffer too.
Today’s physicians are burned out and battered by spreadsheets. We patients suffer too. America's doctors are in crisis. Six in 10 physicians say they're burned out, with burnout rates for some specialties, such as primary care, reaching 70%. When polled by the American Medical Association, 40% of doctors said they were considering leaving their practices in the next two years. Another study, conducted by health-care industry publisher Elsevier, revealed concerns about mental health and burnout: 63% of med students in the United States reported that they had no intention of practicing clinical medicine after graduation and will instead work as lab researchers or academics. This is despite a predicted shortage of 124,000 physicians over the next 10 years.
Now Hear This
Losing your hearing suddenly, even if there is no pain, is always urgent
Go for the Gumbo
The soulful stew synonymous with Louisiana is delicious anywhere you eat it
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
Pinned by a giant boulder, a hiker had two choices: panic or gut it out. He did both.
Fathers of the Bride
A young woman finds a unique way to honor the many men who helped her survive her childhood
MY SMART PET
These clever critters are some smart C-O-O-K-I-E-S
How Hobbies Help Us
Far from a waste of time, pastimes are good for body, brain and spirit
1+1 = MORE (or LESS)
A math whiz encourages you to play with your numbers