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 – …
Anonymity (Try saying that three times) “Your anonymity is protected at all times.” That’s part of the opening lines of many Twelve-Step programs. It’s a promise to anyone who is there. We introduce ourselves with first names only. What’s said here, stays here. When I first heard that my “anonymity was protected” I was both …
The very words fill me with dread. This month high school seniors clad in caps and gowns walk across stages. And afterwards, they take off for their first flight of freedom: Beach Week. The scene hurtles me back to a buried memory. It was June, eighteen years ago. The morning after Jacob’s graduation I smiled …