Front Porch Thoughts

You cannot save people, you can only love them. Anais Nin When our four children were very young, I believed I had the power to make the world a safe haven for them. My husband and I did everything...

Always maintain a kind of Summer even in the middle of  Winter. Henry David Thoreau  Over the years I have spoken to many, many mothers struggling with their adult child’s struggle with the disease of substance use disorder.  The raw emotion in their voices...

Don’t be ashamed of your story. It will inspire others. -Unknown- Shame bound my existence like a strait jacket when my family was deep in the disease of substance use disorder. So many circumstances and happenings made me want...

When my son was in the grip of the illness of addiction –  before the miracle of recovery took place – I lived my life feeling pretty desperate. I was desperate for a recovery solution to bring my son back...

Happy New Year! Part of our family’s New Year’s Day celebration was to settle in together and enjoy home videos from more than a decade ago. It was an evening of wonderful vignettes of our family celebrating holidays, school...

For families struggling with the illness of addiction the holidays can be a very difficult season. Iconic images of family togetherness abound. But for many the reality of the impact of the disease of addiction in our families has shattered those...

Hope. It can be an elusive thing in the midst of a family addiction crisis. Make that very elusive because when our loved ones’ lives are shattered by substance use disorder, our hearts are shattered too. The word heartbreak is a very real...

Well… it’s that  time again.  Ready. Set. Go. Thanksgiving and the kick off to the Holiday Season. And, yes, the weeks of holiday celebrating can be full of fun and togetherness as families reunite after some long months of Covid confinement. ...

The holidays are coming up as fast as a V8 sports car speeding on a super-highway. Vrrooooom! And for families living in the midst of the challenges of the family systems illness of substance use disorder, this time of year makes...

We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community. Dorothy Day Isolation and loneliness are inherent in the family systems disease of substance use disorder.  The...