When addiction first crept into our household 11 years ago, I started keeping a journal. Retreating to clean white paper became my refuge. The blank pages stared back, non-judgmental and welcoming. On their unvarnished surface I poured out my anguish, fear, confusion and shame. It was the only place – until many years later – …
I rarely get angry. Is that abnormal? It must be. Because when friends find out they look at me strangely. Living with someone who is actively using drugs or abusing alcohol, it is easy to get angry. Probably even normal. Like the time that Jacob’s high school counselor called me, “Are you aware your son …
A father recently asked, how do you handle the guilt when you don’t want your loved one to come home after rehab? When you fear she is not ready? His question sent me spiraling back years ago, a moment when Jacob was “between” rehabs. We had dropped him off at a rehab center in Maryland …