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 – …
They sit side by side in the kindergarten classroom. The wife rubs her thumb across the tips of her fingers. The husband stares at every speaker. They are grasping for the answer – the “right” one. In the early years of my son’s addiction, I did the same. I came to Al-Anon knowing surely these …
More than 15 years ago, when Jacob was struggling with drugs and I was frantic to help him, author and educator Libby Cataldi and her son Jeff spoke at our local hospital. Their “talk” followed Libby’s memoir, “Stay Close”, in which she recounts years trying to help Jeff while facing her own crises. The mother-son …