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 – …
At first I didn’t see him. What I saw was a small heap of rags, a mound of dark colors piled on the grass. Charlie and I were out for our daily jaunt. A two-year old, former racing greyhound, Charlie loves walking the streets, sniffing fresh green shoots and stopping short when she spies a …
A mother once asked me, “My son is about to celebrate his first year in recovery. He invited me and my husband to attend his AA meeting. They’re going to give him some sort of a medallion. Should we go?” It was the “should” that caught me short. As Al-Anon teaches, there are no “shoulds” …