A Mother’s Grieving Heart Transformed To Joy | Addiction Recovery
My son graduated! It was only a short while ago, really, that I wondered if he would live through another night. And now, after an initial 60 days with the Wilderness Treatment Center in MT, Luke completed his program with the New Life House and he graduated! I love saying this. He graduated! It’s a miracle I prayed for , every night. I could only trust that we would again talk about this son, whom we love so much, with joy rather than with the heavy heart of grief and fear that accompanies all of us who have children with this disease of addiction. And yes, Luke graduated!
New Life House lives up to its name. I talked with other parents before choosing New Life House . All of them spoke of how much New Life House helped their sons to regain and create a good life. I was confident that this was the best place for my son. It has more than lived up to my hopes as being a place where Luke could connect with his health and the best parts of himself , understand and see the self-defeating parts of himself, and overcome the deadening of addiction. As with many of your sons, mine was close to dying when he chose another way. As parents, we know or learn if we didn’t know, that their recovery is outside of our control. However, our love still abides and is steadfast.
I struggled to be completely open-hearted with our purse-strings. Responding to the needs for help and treatment of this disease, like any other disease, is costly. But unlike other diseases, insurance is silent and aloof, unless it is to step up to deny. And yet, I am so thankful that through my prayers I was changed from having any Grinch-like qualities to being glad and thankful and happy that I could choose New Life House for Luke.
And I have more than been richly rewarded. Everything, and more, that Luke needed to know and do to become a new person, a man in recovery, was available and given to him. His eagerness and openness to learn met an equal openness and eagerness to help him. This house and this community gave us more than can ever be measured. And in the first half year of Luke’s recovery with New Life House, the men there who guide our loved ones though their year helped me so much too. I had many questions, and many fears, and didn’t know sometimes how I was to be in this new relationship with Luke. I was changing too, in my own much-needed recovery from focusing my life on trying to control and defeat the active addiction. Luke’s team helped my son and me begin to create a new relationship. So much gratitude!
Another part of Luke’s graduation and New Life House that I love is the larger graduate community. I am confident that this community provides an aware and healthy grounding and matrix for each another. It is a huge benefit and contributes to the on-going success of those in this program. Already my son, the graduate, has talked about how the other graduates teach him and enlarge his world, and have his back. And I know that he feels the same way about those who are in New Life House and working and living their way through the program. It is remarkable how each young man is treated as the special person that he is. Although this is a program that has been serving others for decades, it offers a fresh and respectful approach to all, helping each person know who they are. New Life House has been a miracle for us beyond what I could have dreamed. Because now, I have a son who is more empowered and enthusiastic about his life than before, much more so. Because of this house and these people, and because my son wanted recovery and there was a community to offer him very large options and possibilities, because of all of this, Luke has connected with his heart and soul in all of its largeness and greatness and awesomeness. And I am so thankful!
Last Updated on May 24, 2022
