Greetings from Northern Michigan

I've been up in northern Michigan for the last few days, spending some time in my favorite place in the world. Visiting great friends, taking in beautiful sights, walking on the beach with my wife, even interviewing for a job; I've loved every minute of it. The stress just drains out of my body when I'm up here. It's like heaven.

Yesterday morning, I had the pleasure of waking up and seeing an interview I did with Beth Wilson posted on her fine blog B Here Today. Beth chose to honor me as her "Recovery Carrier" for the month of July. As noted on Beth's site, "William White defines recovery carriers as 'people, usually in recovery, who make recovery infectious to those around them by their openness about their recovery experiences, their quality of life and character, and the compassion they exhibit for those still suffering.'" (www.williamwhitepapers.com, 2012)

Those are pretty lofty standards and I am humbled that someone believes I live up to them. As I mentioned on Facebook last night, "I'm a little surprised when people think I'm interesting enough to write about. I'm just a dad trying to make a difference." Nonetheless, I am incredibly grateful to Beth for the opportunity to share my thoughts on her blog.

When Beth asked me what my favorite part of all the work I do is, I referenced this blog.

"My favorite part of the work I do is when someone takes the time to contact me to tell me that something I wrote helped them or just resonated with them in some way. For example, I got an email from someone who just happened to 'stumble across' my blog the other day. She’s the mother of six kids, five of whom are addicts to some degree. She opened up and shared with me, and then ended her email by saying, 'Thank you for sharing yourself and your journey in this forum. I look forward to reading more. It helps with my healing.' That right there is why I do what I do. To know I am helping other people is so gratifying to me.

So if you read my blog regularly, please keep doing so. And if you know someone out there who might be helped or comforted by what I write here, please share my blog with them. No one who is dealing with the addiction of a loved one is alone; and if there are people out there who feel like they are, they don't have to. Together,  maybe we can ease their burden a bit.

Peace.

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another." --Charles Dickens

Lake Michigan, from the beach in Leland, Michigan (7/24/14)