Read part I of Ricks Story here Read part II of Ricks Story here Read part III of Ricks Story here       Each time that I left Portland, thinking that was the last time being with Joseph alive, something would happen were he would be just fine and go out to Burger King

February; the month when the theme of “heart” is at the forefront of our minds. Yesterday, February 14th we celebrated Saint Valentine’s day. This day encourages us to show the people we love our appreciation with flowers, candy and gifts. It’s a special way to fill our hearts with love in creative and fun ways. It

“You might as well face it you’re addicted to Love”   I really love that song. But it also kinda makes me cringe because it reminds me of how I used to think about love. I wasn’t addicted to love. I was addicted to being owned, admired, shown off. Plastic love with no depth. I’ll

In the movie “Groundhog Day” Bill Murray’s character is an arrogant self-centered and selfish  weatherman who goes to Gobbler’s Knob one February 2nd to witness Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow and predict six more weeks of winter. For reasons that are not clear at the beginning of the movie, the character is destined to repeat

Read the previous two parts of Ricks story here My sons moved to Portland, Oregon and wanted to come and visit me up in Olympia. After getting over the tidal wave of emotions, I said sure. They arrived a week later in an over loaded Hyundai, with two of their friends. Through the process of elimination,

    My son messaged me earlier on Facebook and was commenting on one of my articles that I had written for a magazine publication recently. The conversation started by him asking “dad, did that story really happen? Or was this just kind of a thing that you made up, to submit for this magazine

  Read Part I of Ricks story here “On my second day in Germany, I got so drunk that the hangover lasted for three days…….” I drank and got drunk almost everyday that I spent in Germany. When I first got there, I fell in love with their beer and food. I never drank American

  I remember the first time that my father looked at me—really looked at me. I was in his car when my eyes caught a ray of sunlight pouring in through the windshield. He said something like, “Oh! Wow, baby girl. You really have light brown eyes!”  For the first time in my life, I

Trauma and the 12 step meeting is the rebel 12 step group where the tough conversations take place Dr. Jamie Marich is definitely one of my favorite people in the recovery community. Her wisdom, knowledge, passion and professionalism towards her work is undeniable. She is not only brilliant in her field on a clinical level,

On March 20th , 2013, something happened that changed my entire life and way of living. I can only hope and pray that this change is forever. I started drinking around the age of 14 but was introduced to alcohol much earlier. When I was about 4 or 5 years old, I would sneak up