In the recovery business, it's easy to find gratitude and recognize that our lives are pretty good.
I realized that today after I talked to a mother who was facing a few issues. One problem was that her drug addict son was getting out of prison in about a week and she didn't know where he was going to live. She said he couldn't live with her because the last time he was free he had stolen a lot of money from the family business. Neither she nor her husband was able to trust him.
Plus, she had another issue that would keep him from living with her anyway. She lived in a part of the country that had experienced severe flooding and she was having to move from her home because mold had settled into the walls. And at the time she talked to me, she wasn't quite sure where she was going to move.
And to top it off, her son's ex-girlfriend said she wouldn't allow the grandmother to visit her grandchildren if she had any contact with her son.
So by the time she talked to me all these things were stressing her out. She wondered what to do. Did I have any suggestions for her?
I told her I could help her with the problem of where her son would live. And, of course, I told her she could send him to Arizona and we'd be happy to welcome him into our program.
As to her grandchildren, I explained that grandparents have legal rights to see their grandchildren, but that she'd probably have to hire an attorney to deal with the issue. Because that was a matter beyond my job description.
All during my conversation with her, I felt her anxiety and stress. But when we hung up, I had a sense that she felt a little better.
As I said at first, it's easy to find gratitude when we see the issues others are facing. Especially those who have addicts in their lives.
