Front Porch Thoughts

The holidays were always times I dreaded during the years our family was immersed in the systems illness of substance use disorder. Once November rolled around, I could feel a big fat knot grow in my heart anticipating the...

With the last of the Halloween candy in the rearview mirror, we can all set our sights on this season of gratitude. I don’t mean the frenzy of Black Friday deals. (Although who doesn’t love a good bargain?)  But the...

Patience, prayer, and silence … these are what give strength to the soul. Saint Faustina Kowalska There are times in the family systems illness of substance use disorder that the noise is too much.  The noise of circumstances. The noise...

Saying change happened for our family the day our son began a life of recovery seems like a pretty obvious statement. But it goes a lot deeper than just the obvious. And here’s why: because substance use disorder is...

I could not grasp what was happening in my son’s heart and mind as he struggled with the illness of substance use disorder. The heartbreaking circumstances of his life were worlds apart from the amazing young man I knew...

Worry is like a rocking chair: It gives you something to do, but never gets you anywhere. Erma Bombeck I don’t know about you, but if the world gave out awards for worry, I would have a room full...

More than 100,000 died from overdose death in the United States in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is an increase of nearly 30 % from the previous year. Seventy five percent of those...

Fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered. United States Drug Enforcement Administration Illicit fentanyl is a dangerous killer – a fact all too well known to grieving families whose loved ones have suffered overdose...

It’s good to be on the lookout for a gold nugget of something hopeful glistening in the path we trudge to find recovery solutions for ourselves and our loved ones.  When I was more than waist deep in the muck and...

More than a decade ago, when our beloved son was gripped by the illness of addiction, my husband and I struggled to find him help. We wasted a lot of time going down deep, dark rabbit holes of poor...