Saturday, July 6, 2019

Let It Ride

It has been many months since I wrote a post for this blog. Looking at the last post was I wrote was November 23, 2018.  Often I wondered if anyone even reads blogs anymore? Sometimes I even thought about should I take it down?

Last week I got a call from a mother. She remarked that she found peace reading my posts. She related that she didn't feel so alone. I checked and saw new comments to various posts. I even looked at the essays posted on The Partnership for Drug Free Kids, (www.drugfree.org) and they are still being read and comments being posted on them.

It makes me feel good that people are still getting help from writing. It makes me sad that people still are searching for help in my writing.

So many times I have wondered why we can't put an end to this scourge of drug addiction.

Darlene told me yesterday that an acquaintance of ours, his brother overdosed and died last week.

This morning a teacher that would host me in his classroom to speak to his students wrote me a note that one of his former students (from before I began speaking) died from an overdose. He related how he was a good student, good athlete and a kid everyone loved.

Makes me sad for this child (30 years old) and his family. Makes me sad for all the "statistics" but all those statistics are so much more than a number. They were brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, relatives, friends and human beings that deserved so much more. We deserved so much more from them too. We counted on their love and to be a part of our lives.

As I said to to that teacher that messaged me, I hope every student that heard my talks remembers me and my story when they are challenged.

Never miss an opportunity to extend a hand to someone struggling with addiction or alcoholism. You never know when it is their time to enter recovery. Recovery works. The love you show may be the straw that tips the scale.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks, Dad, for still being there.

Deborah said...

Thanks for posting. I am a parent of an addict and always read your posts!

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Ashtoret said...

Dad. Please do not remove your blog; I always come back and browse from time to time but was a daily reader 10 years ago. This is my first time commenting. I am a mom of a recovered heroin addict and she has been clean for one decade. This has been a dream of mine during her addiction which lasted close to 10 years and I am ever so grateful. She is now married, has authored a book, has two beautiful children, does a jail ministry for women, speaks at various events, and by all accounts is a success story. But she will not speak to me. My husband and I were very active during her recovery and there is no real logical reason for this except: I BELIEVE ALL RECOVERED ADDICTS WILL ALWAYS HAVE A STIGMA ATTACHED TO THEM FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES. She has some issues with me and for some reason is having a tough time articulating these issues to me. Somehow avoidance is easier for her; she lives in a different state so this is easily accomplished. I guess I just wanted to state for all of your followers out there that recovery is hard for the addict, and the stigma they carry will follow them for many years- if not forever. I never really considered this at all. Thanks for all you have done for so many, Dad.

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Alina jones said...
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Anonymous said...

I am the mother of a recovering heroin and crack addict. She was homeless just 4 short months ago. We did not put her out, she had a home and family that loves her, but her addiction led her to sleep in parks and abandoned buildings. Please keep this blog up because even the old posts can help someone like me, who was searching the internet for this type of information. Your blog energized me to keep going. My beautiful daughter is clean and is living in a recovery house for women. She has a job, we recently helped her get an old car to get her back and forth to that job. She signed an agreement to pay us back and she is healing both physically and mentally. Parenting an addict is horrible, but losing a child is worse, I lost my son 2 years ago. He hid the seriousness of his addiction and mental health issues from us (he lived in another state) and ended up overdosing and dying alone in a room. His death, triggered my daughter's last relapse and it lasted a year and a half until she picked up a phone one night and asked me to come and get her. I did and 4 months later, she is surviving and thriving. I know this is not the end, because relapse can happen, but she is on Vivitrol and it is working. If your addict is ready, make sure they look into this shot, it could be he help they need to stay on the road to recovery! Good luck all

Ben Gilly said...
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Anonymous said...

Love your posts,they got me thru very tough times years ago

Yang Dodu said...
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Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

great post absolutely loved it youre a inspiration to us all i also wanted to share with you this thing that has really helped me alot to cut down my drinking http://tiny.cc/howtodrinkless hopefully it helps others like it has helped me

Sandy Turk Morris said...

I'm the mother of a 25 year old addict. It's been a 10 year battle. She was clean since December 2016 - she went to prison until May 2018. About 6 months ago she began spiraling and relapsed during her divorce. Her probation was set to end in May but she picked up another charge for possession. She voluntarily checked into rehab and stayed a month. Two days after she was discharged, she was high. As I type this, she's been out of contact 3 days. She "lives" with us but not really ... her things are here but she is not. We are at a loss as to what / how to help, encourage, support. Thank you for your blog. I have hope that one day she will be healed of this disease - I trust God completely and know that His plan and timing are perfect, whether I see her in long term recovery or not this side of heaven. Prayers are appreciated. Thank you.

Dad and Mom said...

Sandy,

Where there is life there is hope.

Unknown said...

Thank you for your blog. It is still relevant today. My adult son is 37 years old and has used drugs since high school. Recently with the pandemic he started using heroin IV and I found out the drug problem was so much more than I ever realized. I told him he could not use drugs and live in my home. He left. He was gone four months and homeless. He texted me twice wanting help and I went to get him and both times he left the next day. The third time he texted me for help I went to get him again and that was 6/15/21. He has been clean for 44 days and we are waiting for rehab entry which will be 9/4/21. I pray for his strength. He told me mom no drug is worth the pain I experienced from the withdrawals. I pray he always believes this and I pray your blog stays here so people have a place to find more hope.

Bailey D 12/29/19 said...

just wanted to leave a post saying I am looking up blogs and researching some about recovery before I write my own for a school project. You should always leave this up! You are courageous for telling your story and the one who need to hear it will :) Blessings to your family. I recently celebrated 2 years clean, recovery is possible. Thank you.