I am sitting in a large community-based fellowship hall with some 50 people. Most are in their 20s and 30s. There are many who are older, too. This is an AA meeting in South Florida. My son has invited me. He attends this gathering every week, arranging his work and social schedule always to be …
Recently, I had the great pleasure of talking with men and women in long-term recovery. They opened up about building new lives. Their kind and generous responses are too rich not to share. In this post, and again in two weeks, please allow me to offer their words. If you are suffering with the love …
Some of the most profound people I know are those in recovery – especially those who have been in recovery for years. They have a strength unique to them, plus a hard-earned wisdom they are willing to share with “outsiders” like me. Recently – looking to this New Year – I asked several men and …
“What do I do?” the mother asks me. “My son wants to come home for Christmas.” She sits before me, a friend from the effects of addiction on our families. It is near-impossible to tell her what to do. I am not a therapist – just one mother with one son. Still, our stories are …
Thanksgiving to New Year’s is a time of joy for many people. Or so I’ve always thought. It’s a moment away from work. Time to relax with family. Share presents. Savor delicious meals. A retreat from the pressures of the year, and a healthy pause before it begins all over again. In the years when …
Normal conversations include questions, right? When my son was abusing drugs – now nearly a decade ago – normal conversations were impossible. He was either rarely around or often groggy when he was. How many times did I want to ask him so many questions? – Where’d you go last night? – What time did …
When parents talk about a son or daughter who is abusing drugs or alcohol, their voices rarely falter. They are fully engrossed retelling the horrors of daily living – how this child with so much promise is ruining not only his life, but theirs. It sends me right back to my own years living that …
Isn’t it unnatural for a parent not to love his or her child? This question came up in a conversation with a friend whose child is abusing drugs and alcohol. She reminded me there were times during Jacob’s active addiction when I didn’t want to be around him. I even questioned how much I loved …
They serve almost without anyone knowing. They save thousands of lives every day. These are the men and women who serve as “sponsors” – those who have achieved recovery from addiction – and seek to help others achieve the same. Sponsorship is just one feature that makes AA and Al-Anon so extraordinary. Sponsorship is free. …
Ironic, isn’t it? It took a potentially fatal condition to introduce me to what’s now a popular phrase – a “gratitude list.” Pick up any self-help book or check any self-help blog and you see the term. Therapists recommend writing a “gratitude list” to reaffirm the positive in your life. It took many months of …