These are the words my son said to me after a close family member made a comment during a discussion about a well- known musician who was asked to leave a rock band due to his addiction. “That guy just couldn’t get it together so they got somebody else to play.” The comment was said...Read More

Let us start out by being honest – after all, it is one of the cornerstones of recovery, right?  Okay, since we are being honest, let me just say that there are some people who aren’t supposed to be alcoholics.  Yes, I realize that addiction does not discriminate and it affects people of all genders,...Read More

When I got clean and sober there was something that came along with completing 12 steps and living a life in recovery. Like a prize at the end of the game or a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They told me I would get “a life beyond my wildest dreams.” I...Read More

I have a soulful, creative, loving, beautiful and kind 19 year old daughter. She is still alive, still in recovery, and still in treatment—her fifth one since she was 15. Any parent who has been through this knows the silent pain we face and can only image the silent pain our child faces. Anxiety, depression,...Read More

Andrew Was More Than Just An Addict How do we remember someone as special as Andrew? 99 percent of the time, the first thing people mention, is his incredible intellect. From the very beginning, Andrew was extremely bright. He was accepted into the Gifted Program in first grade. He always excelled in school and graduated...Read More

My name is Mackenzie Phillips. I am Shane’s mom, I am a drug and alcohol counselor, I am a writer, singer, actress, but above all this: I am a woman in recovery from substance use disorder. Had I been asked to define myself a while back, this would not have been the way I would...Read More

A friend accidentally sent me a text message meant for someone else: “Hi. Here with a friend who just lost her son.” Then: “Oops.” Although the text wasn’t meant for me, it was about me. I am that friend who just lost her son. I am the woman with that sobriquet of sorrow that seems...Read More

I started my recovery journey in 2012, when I took a stay in a three month long, all women’s treatment facility in Mobile, AL. Not long after I completed treatment I decided to take my will back and relapsed. I lived in the chaotic state of relapse after relapse for a year until I was...Read More

When you lose a child everything changes. You become very forgetful and walk around in a constant fog. There is no name for a parent who lost a child. Not widowed. Not orphaned. The magnitude of the pain is too large. As parents are not supposed to outlive their children. Every aspect of our life...Read More

Becoming a mother was one of the greatest joys I had ever experienced. Kyle was a vibrant, exuberant child with a larger-than-life personality from the day he was born. Our family was truly blessed. He was always the center of attention and became friends instantly with anyone he met. He had this thirst for life,...Read More