COUNTRY CONNECTION: Even if it’s you — know the enemy

BY PAUL KENT
FOR THE STAFFORD COUNTY SUN
Published: May 14, 2008

They start to affect your quality of life, creep into the things we love the most and destroy everything that we’ve worked for.

The lone saving grace is if yourself or someone around you can point that out and get it through your head that you need help, that you need to slow down, or that maybe - just maybe — you can’t lick this one on your own.

John Michael Montgomery, the man with loads upon loads of talent and a string of hit singles in the 90s, has found himself staring that down.
He couldn’t sleep at night. He found himself paralyzed by anxiety attacks. Being human, and a proud human at that, he decided he would fix it himself, as many of us have, do, and will. He turned to substances to ease the anxiety, to lull him to sleep. But accepting that yoke just compounds the problem — now he had a new problem, a new master.

Thankfully, he realized this. He came to understand that he couldn’t lick this one on his own. So he voluntarily checked himself into rehab. (See, Amy Winehouse? If someone suggests you should go to rehab, you should say, “Yes, yes, yes!”)

Montgomery has canceled all of his concerts and appearances for the next 30 days, according to a statement released May 9 by his management company. He says on his Web site: “I will be disappearing for a while to try and defeat the demons that have stripped me of my energy of life and good health for so many years now. I assure you that however long it may take, I’m gonna fight to the end and come out stronger.”

On the one hand, you’re disappointed that a man who brought joy into your life, however small and however simple, had to shut down. On the other hand, you remember that John Michael Montgomery, the man who hung out with fans at the Fredericksburg Expo Center not two years ago, is as human as the rest of us. He struggles with everyday life the same way we all do — we have our issues, we make choices, and sometimes those choices aren’t the best. And sometimes he has to shut down.

We all have our runnin’s. And John Michael Montgomery’s, fame be darned and talent aside, are really no different than yours or mine.

Paul Kent hosts Thunder After Dark, 7 p.m. - midnight weekdays and the Saturday Night Special, Saturdays 7 p.m. - midnight on Thunder 104.5 Everything Country and More.