“…why shouldn’t we laugh? We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others…”  p. 132 Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book Many people think that giving up drugs and alcohol are a sure pathway to becoming some old boring fuddy duddy with no friends, no fun and no laughter in their lives. The truth however,

  After the alcohol and drugs are gone, what’s next? The path of recovery, followed closely with the gifts of sobriety may seem like a hard sell at first. I remember that very day, when I was being asked to choose between the comforts and certainty of active addiction, or choose the great uncertainty of

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

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,

  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

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

  “I wanted to design a course that was a one stop shop as well as having access to a supportive community. It’s kind of what I wish I had when I came into recovery first.”   Following on from our last podcast with Dawn Clancy of Growing Up Chaotic, we disucss Dawns new first ever

   Slowly my need for alcohol diminished. I was no longer afraid of facing my emotions. When my life hit that famous rock bottom in 2013, I didn’t go to a meeting or to treatment. I didn’t even accept that alcohol was playing a part in the disintegration of my ability to get through life’s

  It seems that each time my friend and I read a couple of chapters for my review, we see that the topics mesh effortlessly. I can’t imagine two more closely connected chapters than the topics of domestic abuse and violence and shame. We are reminded by Rosemary O’Connor, the author of this book, that

The next two chapters of Rosemary O’Connor’s book, “A Sober Mom’s Guide to Recovery — Taking Care of Yourself to Take Care of Your Kids”, deal with very important topics for anyone in sobriety, but maybe more so for Moms than anyone else. Without good communication skills, our relationships with our kids can be severely