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Not an artist
I am not an artist, but I drew the following. I am not a musician, but I drum on my djembe and sing to my kids. I am not much of a writer, though I write constantly and would feel incomplete if I could not. I am not a teacher anymore, but I am... »
The Cost of Serving Our Country
I am humbled, and a bit scared, by the opportunity to work with veterans at the Veterans Outreach Center. These are guys who’ve served our country as recently as Iraq and Afghanistan and as far back as Vietnam and Korea. Why I am humbled seems obvious. These are guys who went off to serve our... »
The meaning of asking for help
As the president of a nonprofit organization, I should be attuned to asking people for help. After all, Families in Recovery relies on donors for funding and on volunteers for our board. But I’ve realized recently that there are still many areas where I am uncomfortable asking for help. So today I did something about... »
The upside to Cancer
The pollster in me wants to conduct a little survey amongst cancer survivors. The primary questions I want to ask are the following. 1. What are the upsides to surviving Cancer? 2. What are the downsides to surviving Cancer? 3. Does your cancer…? a. Haunt you like an unwelcome ghost b. Hunt you like a pack of starving... »
…just ignore all the dying people. My take on healthcare reform
To anyone who thinks we do not need healthcare reform, consider the following: 1. 36 countries have lower infant mortality rates than us. We are behind Cuba. http://www.geographyiq.com/ranking/ranking_Infant_Mortality_Rate_aall.htm 2. 171 countries have a longer life expectancy rate than us. http://www.geographyiq.com/ranking/ranking_Life_expectancy_at_birth_aall.htm 3. 13 countries have fewer preventable deaths than us. France is almost half. http://www.allcountries.org/ranks/preventable_deaths_country_ranks_1997-1998_2002-2003_2008.html 4. We do lead in one metric.... »
A Near Brush with Alcoholism
Earlier this winter, Ella came into my room and startled me out of my sleep. In my half-awake state, I yelled at her for scaring me. My anger lasted only a moment before I came fully awake and apologized (partial lucidity is not my best state). It turns out the poor girl was... »
A lost opportunity
While I deeply appreciate any help given to children of alcoholics, the following is a spot-on example of the lack of focus on the impact family alcoholism has on children. In the following exchange on the Post Tribune of Northwest Indiana web site, Dr. Wallace correctly discusses the nature of the disease. But at no... »
Deserving Treatment
The NY Times had an article last month on eating disorder not otherwise specified, usually known as Ednos. This got me thinking about COAs. Very few COAs ever seek help for what happened to them growing up. There is a sense that the alcoholic, the disease, is what needs treatment, healing and recovery. In other wrods,... »
Fear and Prevention
Recent research is showing something that I have felt in my gut for a while. When used to teach about drug and alcohol abuse, scare tactics rarely work. This research shows that help, education and compassion are more effective at getting people to quit smoking than scare tactics. This also makes me think of the... »
GTD: The Antidote to Kid Brain?
I am suffering from something I think many of my close friends can identify with - I have kid brain. Or I guess I should say kid-addled brain. See if this example rings a bell. I am sitting at my desk working. I’ve just had a great idea for something I can do for... »