WS Chronicle

Drugs and alcohol led George Galbreath into a life of crime and eventually to Guildford County jail. George had his first drink as an adolescent. “I took my first drink about eight years old. I was about six or seven years old when I witnessed an incident with my mom and a man. And the next day, I saw the Cowboys drink on TV, and it looked like they fought better when they drank. That night I went to look for my mom at a liquor house, and I drank her alcohol. I got hit and it didn’t hurt. So, when I turned eight, if I had to get into a fight or try to protect my mom, I didn’t feel them licks until the next day,” said George Galbreath, better known as G Man. 

Normally nothing shocks me, but this did. I looked at G Man and he noticed the sadness in my eyes and replied, “Well, it’s my life. I tell people the greatest book God gives you is to study you. And once you study and learn from it, then you are thankful for your afflictions. Every human being has their own hurt, pain, trials and troubles. 

Goerge “G Man” Galbreath is a native of Chapel Hill. He now resides in Greensboro. At the age of 25, he was fired from his job as detention officer for Guilford County. “I was busted delivering heroin, cocaine and weed into Guilford County jail,” shared George. On Nov. 14, 1985, the domino effect of one tragedy after the next began. 

“I got three felonies at one time facing 30 years. I got a three-year prison sentence. When I got out, I had so much hate, anger, self-pity and foolishness. I began taking drugs in the jail, so I was already drinking. So, in a ten-year period, I grew to a fifth of alcohol a day. I got four DUIs and five suicide attempts in a 15-year period.” 

On Oct. 26, 2003, the dominos continued to fall. He received his fourth DUI while driving without a license. The highway patrol office who pulled him over told G Man that he was a highly functioning alcoholic. He had to make a lifesaving decision.“I was drinking every day at 21 years old. I had a choice to go get help or go back to prison. Jan. 26, 2004, I entered Moses Cone Behavioral Health to start detoxing from hate, anger, self-pity, and shame. I was drinking a fifth of liquor a day and a half gallon on Saturdays. I made four suicide attempts,” shared the husband of 30 years.  

During his fourth day at Moses Cone Behavioral Health, something miraculous happened. “It was on Jan. 30, 2004. It was my spiritual birthday! The doctor came in, yelled in my left ear. It sounded as if he was a mile away. I heard the doctor say ‘George, if you can hear me, there’s nothing I can do for you until you have a heart attack or a stroke or aneurysm or all three. Your face is starting to twist. If you believe in a higher power, you need to call him now. We’re losing you. We’re losing you.’  I felt like I was moving downward 1,000 miles an hour. I saw the brightest red light I have ever seen in my life. At 42, I said my very first prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ. My first prayer was, if it’s truly you, if you take the headache and alcohol from me and let me see my daughter grow up, I’ll do your will. Don’t let me die in this place. I’ve done nothing with my life but hurt people. 

“The doctor and two nurses said the blood pressure monitor beeped and my pressure was 220 over two-something. But as my pressure went down, they told me they witnessed my face shift back three times. The doctor said, ‘I saw you mumbling, so I assumed you were praying.’ I said yes. He said, ‘Whoever you prayed to pulled you out of the tunnel of death for a purpose. I surely thought you would have died today. Or whatever time you had left, you would spend it in a long-term care facility. I never thought we would have this conversation,’” shared George Galbreath.  That day was the birth of G Man … God’s Man Talking! 

“God sent me back here from my dying bed to talk about one of his greatest books, and that’s The Book of George. Your life is your book. I did not start studying the book of George until 42. March 4 was my 64th birthday and I came back to this earth from that dying experience, out of an alcohol treatment center, to share exactly what God has taught me.”

I asked G Man what the main message of his ministry is. “Forgiveness. I talk a lot about the importance of forgiving your mom and dad. I was 42 before I realized my mom had three children. I was looking at Mama’s wrongs … her drinking and violent boyfriends. So, I have this thing blaming Mama for her two wrongs, not appreciating her 50 million rights. I also had to forgive my dad who wasn’t in my life, and I didn’t appreciate all the rights of my mom.  So, in my message, I highly encourage people not to be 42 years old like me before you start to forgive. Study the book of YOU now so you won’t be my age before you start seeing the good in your family and others,” shared the father of one. 

G Man is now one of the most sought-after inspirational speakers in the country. “I’ve been speaking for 20 years. I do a show-and-tell presentation, especially with youth. I carry a lot of props from my life from middle school to high school. I’m not ashamed to show my criminal record, my expungement record of the felonies. I share my entire journey.  It’s very important to show youth my choices and decisions, to try and help them along the way,” said G Man. He’s also doing well with his acting and modeling career. 

Something that is very dear to his heart is working as a hospice aide.”For 19 years I’ve been a hospice aide. I went from whipping butts to wiping butts. With the different felonies on my record, it was rough finding a good job. My counselor said, ‘You make a good hospice aide. They gave me a chance,’ he said. And it’s been an amazing 19 years.”

Two reasons that G Man lights up as bright as the stars in the sky are his wife of 30 years, Lori Galbreath, and their daughter Brianna. “They are my everything! We’ve been through the stones, but we both healed and learned from it. My wife, daughter and my mom have forgiven me. It’s been a blessing to live and experience my family’s forgiveness. Looking at marriage, I tell people if you make sure you can be a forgiver and a healer and learn from it, that’s true intimacy. It’s not just about the sex. It’s spiritual intimacy is when you can share any part of your human existence with that other person without feeling shame or judgment. You can share the hurt, the pain, the happiness, the joy, the dreams of any part of your human existence. You feel safe. That is a spiritual, intimate relationship,” shared G Man. 

His favorite scripture is Mark 5. “I have a twin in the Bible.  He’s the demon-possessed man in Mark 5. I continue to study the 66 books to help me study this one book, called the book of George.” 

My Phenomenal Person of the Week is George “G Man” Galbreath.