Understand that you cannot understand.  That’s the first hurdle.

If you do not have addictive tendencies yourself, you will never truly understand what it’s like for the person who does.  Sure, you can educate yourself about addiction. You can sympathize, and em...

Understand that the “rest of the world” doesn't understand

After years of working in recovery circles, the terms “alcoholic” and “addict” are no longer dirty words to me.  They’re simply terms that describe variations on a disease.  But I’m fully cognizant of the...

I have some close friends who play in a rock & roll band on the club circuit. They were performing at a club in my town that I choose not to frequent because it’s a favorite hang-out of my first husband.  We’ve been divorced 13 years and I’ve been re-married for 12....

My husband often says that his definition of respect is based on seeing someone acting in a manner that he, given the same set of circumstances, is unsure he would be able to do. He uses this reference often when speaking to others about my staying with him as he batt...

My husband’s friend Alan passed away this week.

I didn’t like Alan. “Oily” would be the word I would use to describe him. He was a ex-con real estate broker, always out for the fast buck--an “ends justify the means” kind of guy.  He defrauded his elderly parents to f...