Let the conversation begin!

I have been unsually upset today.  Most days I can handle with God's help anything that comes my way.  But for some reason today my emotions have been running high.  With a rare few minutes to myself I have been sitting here trying to figure out why I am feeling this way. 

So far what I have come up with is I think I am feeling overwhelmed by the enourmity of the addition/alcohol problem that seems to have invaded our society. It seems to just be every where and I cant get a way from it for even one day.  Maybe even one minute.  Of course this issue is very close to home for me and I deal with it day in and day out.  But it is more than that today. 

We were at the park the other day and this sweet little boy came over and wanted to play with my little girl.  She played shy and he did the little boy thing and showed her how he could go across the monkey bars all by himself.  It was very cute.  But I couldnt help but notice the man he had come with acting rather strangely off to the side.  After being at the park for a little bit another man walked up to him and they started having a heated conversation.  The other man was a little older and we feared for his safety so my husband asked him if everything was all right.  He said straight out "oh, he just likes his pills and is mad," and walked away.  And for some reason I was struck by his blunt statement.  Upon leaving the park I could barely keep myself from scooping up that little boy and taking his with me.  But all I could do and continue to do is pray for his safety.

On TV last week I watched a show about addicts and their families.  They interviewed this one mom of a young man who is addicted to meth and I felt like I could almost literally feel the pain and hurt on her face.  But what she said hit very close to home.  She said she is living with this terrible secret alone.  She has not told even her closest family members for fear of rejection and all I could do was cry.

I tell these stories as just a couple of examples of many.  I see so many hurting people around me everyday.  I see the tragedy that can stem from addiction/alcoholism and the mental illness that sometimes goes with it. It is in either people struggling with addiction/alcoholism themselves or as affected others and sometimes it just weighs on me.

So what can we do?  That is the question I find myself asking alot these days.  And I do not have the answer.  I was hoping that somehow by starting this blog I would start to find those answers.  I was hoping to reach out to people who were hurting and to those who have years of sobriety.

I would like to officially start a conversation.  I would love to hear from anyone and everyone about your experiences.  I hope to hear from people who do have years of sobriety and have them share what worked for them.  I would also enjoy hearing from any affected others and how they have handled the stress of having a struggling loved one. Lets stop suffering alone.

So let the conversation begin!