Each one of us build walls around  ourselves.  We do it to keep safe.  Those walls are very different for each person.   We build walls to protect ourselves. Why walls? We build a home.  It has walls.  Those walls keep out danger.  It keeps out the extreme heat in summer and the dire cold and rain in winter.  It keeps out people that have ulterior motives.  Walls keep us and our possessions safe. Walls are vital.  But when do the walls we build go from keeping us safe,  to keeping us isolated? To trapping us? To keep us from reaching ..read more

Mother’s Day has always been the most important day of the year to me. No, it is not Christmas. It is not Easter. Or my birthday. Or an anniversary of something special. It is not any one of several really special days throughout the year. The most important day for me is, has always been and will be for all of my life, Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day while being the most important day is very often a day Mom’s suffer in silence. We all wear many “hats” throughout our lives, daughters, sisters, friends, co-workers, coaches, teammates, helpers and carers but absolutely none is as important as the ro ..read more

I want to apologize for this past year not keeping in touch with posts. I know together we are all stronger. I also know that no one is more understanding that sometimes we “fall off the grid for awhile” than another Mom who has an adult child struggling with the disease of addiction. We try to fit everything that is important in but sometimes it seems we just do not have that extra moment. Not an excuse by any means but a reality. And it became my reality like it may have been the reality for many of you as well. And we do whatever we can to help and support those we love but we have no power ..read more

Mother’s Day has always been the most important day of the year to me. No, it is not Christmas. It is not Easter. Or my birthday. Or an anniversary of something special. It is not any one of several really special days throughout the year. The most important day for me is, has always been and will be for all of my life, Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day while being the most important day is very often a day Mom’s suffer in silence. We all wear many “hats” throughout our lives, daughters, sisters, friends, co-workers, coaches, teammates, helpers and carers but absolutely none is as important as the ro ..read more

For 23 years my son Nathan struggled with a devastating heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and meth addiction. He suffered many abuses and incredible trauma throughout his years of addiction. His journey was a devastating one for him. As a family who loved him deeply his journey of pain was also our journey. Supporting, encouraging and loving my son unconditionally throughout his devastating addiction, with all the ups and downs, the better days and the most difficult of days, I have also been privileged to have been able to support others struggling with this devastating disease. Volunteering tho ..read more

To the Mothers who have lost a child. To the Mothers who are rebuilding relationships with their children. To the Mothers who don’t know where their children are. To the Mothers who never sleep more than an hour at a time. To the Mothers who are themselves away in treatment. To the Mothers who long for one more hug. To the Mothers who can’t stop asking, “what more could I have done”? To the Mothers doing everything possible to change the stigma around addiction. To those Mothers – you – who never stop loving. And to Mothers who are mourning their own Mothers. Mother’s Day can be especially dif ..read more

I posted these thoughts in June 2018. Lately I have noticed this particular post is being viewed fairly frequently so I thought I would print it again in the event you may find something in this post that speaks to your heart. Take care of and be kind to yourself. The past is the past – time to let it go!! Far to often we stay stuck in the past.  What we did.   What we regret.  What we wish we had done differently.  We constantly beat ourselves up with “what if I had only….”. That is a sentiment what keeps us stuck.  It keeps us regretting.  It keeps us in pa ..read more

When we thought the number of drug related deaths could not get worse, the Global pandemic hit and the number of deaths from drug poisoning escalated to unimaginable heights. I do not say “drug overdoses” intentionally. Those struggling with addiction are not dying from overdoses as much as they are dying from a poisoned drug supply – a toxic mixture that has affected drug supplies from coast to coast to coast. Taking a overdose means you have taken an excessive or dangerous amount of a substance you believed you were taking. You have “over dosed” yourself by taking too much of the intended su ..read more

As a society we treat physical pain with compassion and understanding.  When we see  someone on crutches we hold open the door.  We offer assistance.  We all understand physical pain and there is no stigma toward physical injury. With emotional pain, with illnesses affecting the brain, that same compassion is not always evident.  Instead of holding the “door open” the person struggling often feels “the door shutting.” We have to realize it is the entire being that makes up the person.  The brain is vital to the body functioning.  A fine tuned machine works be ..read more

Each one of us build walls around  ourselves.  We do it to keep safe. Those walls are very different for each person.   We build walls to protect ourselves. Why walls? We build a home.  It has walls.  Those walls keep out danger.  It keeps out the extreme heat in summer and the dire cold and rain in winter.  It keeps out people that have ulterior motives.  Walls keep us and our possessions safe. Walls are vital.  But when do the walls we build go from keeping us safe,  to keeping us isolated? To trapping us? To keep us from reaching out?&n ..read more