After connecting with countless people affected by addiction, I returned home exhausted yet rewarded.
Then a young woman recovering from opiate addiction living in one of Ohio’s counties where I’d just visited messaged me, “Your book is inspirational… it’s given me hope and shows me I’m not alone.” She’d missed my presentations but had seen a posting about SAVING JAKE in her doctor’s office where she gets a Vivitrol shot every month.
She wanted to know if Jake was alive… said she’d cried after reading the first page… she was on Chapter 8… that it was the first time she’d read and understood her parents’ perspective.
Such ripples in a pond! My emotions swirled around—tenderness, optimism, empathy, and gratitude—in connecting with this young woman. I get how reading stories helps. Reading and learning helped get me through the worst. And support groups.
After she finished my story later that same night, she sent another message. “I’m gonna keep reading it over and over… I’m becoming immune to the Vivitrol shot… Your family has truly inspired me to not give up.” Then the following day she wrote, “Your book saved my life.”
It feels like pure joy to give hope to someone in need when they most need it. Clearly, addicts and family members alike are desperate for much-needed hope.
Then a young woman recovering from opiate addiction living in one of Ohio’s counties where I’d just visited messaged me, “Your book is inspirational… it’s given me hope and shows me I’m not alone.” She’d missed my presentations but had seen a posting about SAVING JAKE in her doctor’s office where she gets a Vivitrol shot every month.
She wanted to know if Jake was alive… said she’d cried after reading the first page… she was on Chapter 8… that it was the first time she’d read and understood her parents’ perspective.
Such ripples in a pond! My emotions swirled around—tenderness, optimism, empathy, and gratitude—in connecting with this young woman. I get how reading stories helps. Reading and learning helped get me through the worst. And support groups.
After she finished my story later that same night, she sent another message. “I’m gonna keep reading it over and over… I’m becoming immune to the Vivitrol shot… Your family has truly inspired me to not give up.” Then the following day she wrote, “Your book saved my life.”
It feels like pure joy to give hope to someone in need when they most need it. Clearly, addicts and family members alike are desperate for much-needed hope.
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