“I answered my mother’s phone call that night nearly twelve years ago because I was drunk––the only time I liked to talk on the phone, despite hardly ever remembering any details of the conversations the next day. This time was different. I remember it well, all thanks to the hysteria in her voice that immediately killed my buzz.

“I just saved this poor little dog’s life! Paid three hundred bucks for him, and he’s not the purebred like they said in the ad, but I don’t care!”

She told me how th

“I attended my first twelve-step meeting at only nine-years-old; my parents have been involved in addiction and recovery for as long as I can remember.

When I was twelve, they divorced. Sober living wasn’t going as well for Mom as it was for Dad. Thus, a significant pivot occurred, and life as I knew it changed.

Even though my father was a more fit parent, I chose to live with my mother. Deep down inside, I felt I could be the one to save her from the demons that drove her to use drugs.”