I started this blog as a supportive place for grieving parents to read about my loss, and to speak about their lost children, and for parents who have addicted children to read about my son, and to share how they are dealing with their children. For both, I hope to offer hope, help and counsel. I claim no expertise other than my own experience on this journey no one wants to take, my own reading on both subjects, and I hope to learn from others as well. Both of these topics – the loss of a child, and having an addicted child, are subjects that need to be freed from stigma and the fear of bringing up the lost person. The bereaved parent needs to hear their lost child’s name!
I am a mom of two sons, and I also have two wonderful step-children, their spouses, and two beautiful and talented granddaughters and an infant grandson. My husband is my rock, and our golden retriever Mikey is our joy. After losing my son Jon in December of 2017, almost immediately I felt drawn to my church Ebenezer, as a refuge for my heart. This action has been proved to be central to my healing and help in my grief. My younger son Ben has been involved with drugs since he was a teenager and has been through so many treatment centers, rehab centers, special schools and also has been incarcerated. I fiercely love both of my boys.
I am an introvert (INFJ if you follow Myers Briggs), but I like to be sociable on my terms. I was a vegetarian from age 16 to age 29 when I started eating chicken and fish. I have three younger, and very precious, sisters. I have a family history of anxiety and depression, which I try hard to manage. I love to read, cook healthfully (and I love sweets), to write, to travel, movies and good TV series – particularly British dramas and detective series. I am an Anglophile. And I choose mountains over beaches.
I’ve got one son running on heavenly clouds, because he’s got his angel wings, and another son here on earth in chains, because he cannot rise, Lord he will not rise. But I’ve got a broken-hearted grace, because my Father holds my shattered heart in His hands.