Recently I met a young woman named “Jen.”   After six years on the run, she is living in a female sober living house and testing her first weeks of sobriety.  Surrounded by women who are months and years ahead of her in recovery, she craves the strength and experience they provide to guide her each day.  These women are the role models she needs.  She believes there is something almost “spiritual” about this house.  As she says, “It feels like “family.”

With all the support around her, two part-time jobs and a daily focus on her program, Jen has the best shot at long-term recovery.  It is the first time she has felt this positive.

Recovery is possible.  When Jacob was actively using, and I despaired what might happen next, I couldn’t imagine what “recovery” might look like for him – or for me.  All I knew was that I wanted the suffering to stop, the addiction to just “go away,” to live our lives as we did “before,” without the worry and shame and heartache.

But today, after my seven years of Al Anon, and his six-plus years in AA, he has his program and I have mine.  We each work to maintain our recovery from the effects of the disease of addiction.

My husband often says that “everyone” should have a 12-step program.  But as the literature notes, there are no “shoulds” in Al Anon.  Even so, a 12-step program certainly may help anyone, regardless of the challenge in his or her life.

For Jen, and all those afflicted with the disease of addiction, programs like AA, a clean, sober-living house, peers who understand and have “been there” – all can lead to a life of health and fulfillment.

One day at a time, one step at a time, people do recover – those who suffer from addiction, and those who love them.