07/05/2025
Three years ago, I wasn't sure my partner would make it through another week. The addiction had taken everything from him - his job, his confidence, most of his friends. He was barely hanging on, and honestly, so was I.
When he finally got clean, the therapist suggested he find something to work with his hands. "Channel that energy into creation instead of destruction," she said. That's when he discovered woodworking.
At first, it was just small projects in the garage. Cutting boards, simple boxes. But something about working with wood seemed to calm the chaos in his mind. He'd spend hours out there, sanding and shaping, coming back inside with sawdust in his hair and the first real smile I'd seen in years.
Then he found the woodworking community on the Tedooo app. Suddenly he had mentors, people who understood what it meant to rebuild your life one piece at a time. He started selling his smaller pieces there, nothing fancy, but every sale felt like proof that he was becoming someone new.
This door was his biggest project yet. He spent months selecting the perfect slab, learning about live edge techniques from other craftsmen on Tedooo. When we installed it between our bedroom and the rest of the house, he said it felt like closing the door on who he used to be.
Now he has a growing shop on Tedooo, and some of his regular customers don't even know his story. But I see it in every piece he makes - the patience he's learned, the pride in creating something beautiful instead of destroying it.
Two years sober next month, and this door reminds me every day that people really can change.
What do you think about this project?
