Overview

This book addresses multiple issues in recovery from addiction, childhood trauma, and family dysfunction in the form of a memoir that ends with hope and a return to wholeness. The author says: There's always a point when someone in your family ends up with all the family dirt, all the secrets that funnel down through generations. In my family, the day came when that person was me. But I didn't want to keep secrets anymore; they were a poison that was eating me from the inside out. Studies show that children who have experienced the kind of severe abuse that I did develop ""toxic stress"" that damages their developing brains. The result of what I went through was that I could not see beauty or enjoy life. But even a person with a life as broken as mine can move past hopelessness. Past a life of darkness to a life of beauty and happiness. Into a life of extraordinary faith and profound spiritual growth. This is my tale of a steady descent into hell and the effort it took to climb out, about the pile of garbage I inherited that came to rest on my shoulders, and how I overcame the resulting addictions to go on to live a functional life, find peace, and develop a life worth living. Once my head cleared from the drugs and alcohol, getting healthy was like putting together a puzzle; the more I worked at it, the more the whole picture emerged. And I was willing to work at it. Yet there were no quick fixes in recovery. If you have experienced something that puts you in the hospital, you have to stay until you recover. You can't just brush yourself off and move on; you have to pause and recover. There's a saying that ""We change when our last resort seems like a good idea."" But change I did, because if I didn't, I was going to die, one way or another. I want to help people make themselves whole again. It's not for me to tell you what direction to take, but rather to give you tools to point you in the right direction. Whatever your situation, I hope you find something in these pages that gives you inspiration. I want to shed our shared sickness and put an end to the shame and guilt of yet another dysfunctional generation. A better life awaits anyone who wants it. The good news is that if I can do it, anybody can. Linda W.

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As she sees it, it was against all odds that Linda W. graduated from high school through the vehicle of an alternative school and overcame addiction at a young age. She joined the Army Reserves at twenty-five and was honorably discharged eight years later. Shortly after joining the military, she started a carpenter apprenticeship program, eventually becoming a journeyman, and in the process met her future husband, who is truly her life's partner and soulmate. They eventually both became contractors and built a few houses together before the market fell out, though they have never stopped working to restore their hundred-year-old home. Over the years they have had many adventures and recently celebrated twenty-seven years together. In time, the strain of continual hard labor caught up with Linda, requiring her to switch to a new career. She started collecting antiques and eventually began a small business selling collectibles in an antiques mall, which she has enjoyed doing for seventeen years. She is disabled now, but spends her days keeping up her home, working in her garden, and enjoying her wide variety of antiques and collectibles. She and her husband have rescued several cats over the years and support multiple animal charities. In addition, Linda has been a successful practitioner of Buddhism for more than ten years. Contrary to all her expectations, she has lived a life worth living, having maintained thirty-six years of recovery from drugs and alcohol, which she sees as her greatest accomplishment-because without it she wouldn't have had any of the rest of her genuinely wonderful life.

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