The call came in late afternoon on New Year’s Eve
My husband and I were donning warm coats for a walk into town to enjoy fireworks.

The counselor had my son in his car.
“Lisa,” he said, “your son needs detox. Badly”

He put Jacob on the line. I could barely hear him.
This was the end of his first year in South Florida and he sounded very sick.
It was clear he needed to go back into treatment.

After the call, my husband and I headed downtown. I felt his arm around me. We huddled against the cold and the image of our son on New Year’s Eve admitted to yet another treatment center, the ache in our hearts worsened by the revelry around us.

There was so much then I couldn’t know. That the next 100 days would give Jacob a fresh start at recovery. That this time it would last for weeks and months and stretch into the 11-year anniversary Jacob will celebrate next month.

All I knew then was that this would be his third inpatient try.

Today, when Jacob speaks to groups, he often says the holiday helped his recovery. It was a new year, and he was once again in a treatment center. How many more holidays would he spend in treatment? When would his life change, if not now?

Meanwhile I had discovered Al-Anon, and stuck with it, too. I was not the only mom whose child was in a treatment center that holiday, nor would I be the last.

For Jacob, that New Year’s began a recovery that continues today.
For me, it strengthened a recovery through Al-Anon that also continues today.

If the holidays can bring hope to one family, maybe they can for others, too.