Forged with resilience

Justin Taylor was drinking heavily. His marriage of a year fell apart in 2015, and he blames himself for its failure.

He worked as a custodian for at a local elementary school for several years on the night shift. He worked at the school through the COVID-19 pandemic, even during the period that the school was closed, but the money was tight.

In 2020, he lost both his grandmothers on the same day. His maternal grandfather died within the year, followed shortly thereafter by his paternal grandfather.

A couple years later, he took a job with the Kraft Corp. The pay was better. They manufactured horse exercise equipment, and he spent a large amount of time traveling and living out of hotels, often for months at a time, while they assembled equipment for the clients.

“We worked sometimes 12-hour days, and you go back to the hotel just to do it over the next day, sometimes seven days a week to get the job done,” he said. “The isolation was crushing.”

After two years on the road, he needed a change. Eventually, Justin transitioned into a technical engineering  position within the company and began working as a draftsman, using a Computerized Aided Drawing (CAD) program. The company trained him and he digested everything he could find online about CAD.

Justin’s anxiety eventually prompted him to seek help from a psychologist, who addressed his grief and talked to him about his self-medicating with alcohol. He was diagnosed with clinical depression, and shortly thereafter, he stopped drinking.

“I suddenly realized I wanted more in this life than I had thought I deserved,” he said.

To stay sober, he used “dirt therapy,” referring to outdoor work. At the suggestion of a friend, Justin was introduced to blacksmithing.

“Blacksmithing is a creative outlet,” he said. “It relieved my stress. I don’t think about alcohol anymore. It’s not in my life. Blacksmithing is, and it has become a metaphor for healing, remaking and pushing through. It demands determination. You can’t stop until it’s done.

Justin is now engaged to Lynna Patton. They’ve been friends for 10 years. At 31, she is grateful they waited. Lynna asked him why he was drinking, and it opened the conversation between them. She was understanding about his struggles.

“We all deal with addictions, it’s just some of us come out a little louder,” she said. “Being comfortable can become an enemy when we take the easy road.”

Eventually, Justin was asked if he would be interested in taking over the blacksmith re-enactor position at Fort Boonesborough. He was enthusiastic in his response and has been manning the forge there for the past season. Lynna is also a re-enactor at the Fort, where she makes candles as they were made there in the 1770s. Their wedding is set for June 2027.