A mother wrote to me. This is part of it: It’s May 21st at 10:24 pm and just about an hour ago I got a call that my daughter walked out of rehab. Just today I was telling my coworkers that I had such a good feeling about this rehab – a full one-year, Christian-based program. No outside contact, only immediate family. Twice I talked to her on the phone and she loved it there. She didn’t even make it a full week.
My reflection on the passage above: Hope smashed. With addiction, we parents feel betrayed and our dreams feel suffocated. When our children accept and enter rehab, we celebrate and we hope again, feeling certain (and trying not to feel certain) that this is it: This is the time that will stick.
Dr. MacAfee teaches that relapse is not failure. Relapse, he says, can be a great stepping-stone, directing the individual toward her own understanding of loss of control of her use. Relapse can, if handled well, be one step closer to sobriety.
Today’s Promise: I will continue to believe. With every relapse, I hope that my child will learn more about her illness. I will acknowledge the powerful hold that the drug has on her. I will stay close.
4 Comments.
View Comments | Leave a Comment