By David Palmer On the face of it, Ashleigh Smith, a single mom and newly recovering meth addict with, at best, a fragile grip on sobriety was an unlikely role model, but on March 12, 2005, she proved herself worthy by helping to bring multiple killer, Brian Nichols, to justice. On that day, Nichols took Smith hostage in her own home, but in seven harrowing hours with help from Saddleback church Pastor Rick Warren’s best selling book, “The Purpose Driven Life” she persuaded him to let her … [Read more...]
Overcoming Addictions – The Power of our Hometowns and Local Neighborhoods
When World War II began in 1941, my father gave up his high paying public relations job on New York’s Madison Avenue, bought the local newspaper, the Summit Herald, in our home town of Summit, N.J. and went to work. He was forty, had a wife and kids, and was therefore exempt from military service, but he wanted to be closer to home in uncertain times and to contribute to the war effort. What he did was modest, certainly when compared to the heroic achievements of members of the armed … [Read more...]
For her the days of the locusts have come and gone
My name is Linda. I am a survivor of verbal, emotional, and sexual abuse in my marriage, and I struggle with multiple facets of co-dependency including pride, control, self-sufficiency, shame, and isolation. Jesus Christ is my Higher Power. I was born in rural Alabama, the youngest of six children of Godly parents. My dad did sharecrop farming and later built houses. My mom worked hard at home and picked and chopped cotton to buy my school supplies and clothes. We were extremely poor, but I … [Read more...]
Lois Wilson Story: When Love is Not Enough
The Biography of the cofounder of Al-Anon By William G. Borchert Picture if you will, eight women parked in front of the Clinton Street Brooklyn home of Bill and Lois Wilson. Their motors are running and they are steamed. On this night in 1938, their husbands, most of them newly sober, are attending a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous with the organization’s co-founder, Bill Wilson. What ticks the ladies off is that their husbands have replaced drinking with meetings, leaving them once again … [Read more...]
Living with an Addict? Chances are You Need Help
On a winter night in 1976, Mary T. decided she would kill her alcoholic husband, when he came home from work. Frustrated by her inability to control his drinking, Mary finally said to herself, “It’s not the drinking, it’s him. He’s the problem, and I need to get rid of him.” Attracted to the image of herself as a widow, she had rejected the divorce option and went straight to murder. As to the means, she eliminated both an ice pick in the neck and running over him in the family car. … [Read more...]
