PAL Blog
A Parent’s Story
Articles by Parents Like You
It’s in God’s hands
I have two children, one with my first husband and one with my current husband. My son from my first marriage has never recovered from his father leaving us. He has always been exceptionally bright, and he was a joy growing up. When he was 11 years-old, issues with...
I can’t change my daughter
Our family would be considered a typical family. My husband and I have been married for 31 years, we have a 29-year-old son who’s married with children and a 23-year-old daughter. Our daughter was always the social butterfly. She included the kids who were not...
There is always hope!
After my son graduated from college, he lived on his own and picked up a few jobs before he started working for a bank - he was in his mid-20’s. He was doing very well at the bank and was working in the mortgage department. He advanced up through the department and...
The View from Recovery
Articles by People in Recovery
Beauty is always there…if we take time to notice
The other day while reading Station 11, a fictional apocalyptic story, I was struck by the prose and narrative in a way that granted me a moment of perspective. Despite society and civilization literally falling apart in this story, the human spirit persisted (we...
The life preserver was gone
To this day, I vividly remember the calamity that was my life on a daily basis for so many years. The endless attempts to stay intoxicated – regardless of personal cost or consequence. Oblivious to the fact that the choices I made in these narcotic periods of haze...
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable
“I shall be telling this with a sigh. Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” - Robert Frost I recently left a job I had held for seven years of my adult life....
From Counselors
Articles by PAL and Partner Counselors
Turning the spotlight on ourselves
I read in a book by Earnie Larsen* that there is scant difference between an abstaining chemically dependent person and a co-dependent person. Both have living problems, intimacy problems and issues with self-esteem. All these...
Am I a good role model for my adult children?
At a recent PAL meeting a distressed mother said, “I’ve cut financial strings, my son no longer lives with me and I’m limiting how many phone calls I take because he only calls when he wants money or is in a crisis, so I guess there is nothing else I can do?” This...
Finding Joy While Waiting
In PAL meetings we often talk about delayed emotional growth as well as delayed gratification. Our loved ones who are battling substance use disorder have tremendous difficulty with both of these behaviors. In the case of many of them, they began using substances...