Birthday & Books

Today is my son's 23rd birthday. Not sure if I'll see him today or not, but he did come to my other son's 21st birthday party last week. It was great to see him! We do keep in touch through phone calls and texts, mostly texts. But, I was still happy that he made the effort to be with us on his brother's birthday. He has also been reaching out to other family members (my brother and sister) by calling them. That's pretty huge in my book and I'm happy to see that change in him. I do not get my hopes up about anything, nor do I have expectations, but I enjoy seeing some changes in my son that show me he is reaching out.

Books. I've read several books on addiction, some very excellent and helpful ones. However, someone just gave me their copy of Stay Close, by Libby Cataldi. I adore this book and I'm so thankful she wrote it. As a parent, I could relate. She has battled cancer, I have too (although a different kind). She also has 2 sons, one addicted and one not- something else I related to. Libby talks about her denial, horror, shame, confusion, enabling, etc... She makes it clear that she will never fully understand addiction, but her book is very informative and she learned how to have compassion for her son, stay close to her son, yet not enable her son. I highly recommend this book.

Libby's son is doing very well today, but she says something about there not being a finish line in addiction, what a true statement...