Sunday 2 February 2014

Dear God


“Dear God, please give me cancer. Give me any disease. Give me anything painful and I’ll carry it. I can handle it. Just don’t take my child from me.”

“Dear God, please give my child’s pain to me so that I can carry it for him. Please God. Please. He is hurting so much.”

“Dear God, please take away my son’s addiction. Please let me carry the pain for him. Give me a disease. Give me anything. Take all my limbs. I don’t care. Just let me have my son back.”

“Dear God, I promise you, if my son gets better I will not give up the fight. I don’t need to see my son sick and suffering in order to have the motivation to continue the fight. I see the pain all around me. I can’t ignore it. I will keep fighting. Please let my son get well so that I will have more energy for the fight. Please give me my son back.”

Just some of the many deals I tried to make with God over the years. Parents of sick children would do anything to help them become well again. ANYTHING! We would sacrifice our own lives if it was possible.

My faith got me through this painful journey. We are so grateful to have our son back. We have been blessed with an amazing gift, his recovery.

I made a promise that I intend to keep. I will never leave anyone behind in this battle. I will not rest until every person battling addiction on this Island has access to the treatment they need, even if they have to make 100 attempts at it. That 100th time can be the one that saves them.

I can't do it alone. I hope that you will join me (and all the others out there raising awareness) with your open mind and open heart in helping those suffering with this cold, cruel disease. 

Sincerely,
Rose

7 comments:

  1. I have often wondered if there are any groups around PEI that cater to the agnostic/atheist bent. I have been to a few meetings, but when "God" or "Higher power" are mentioned, my ears close. No offense to whomever chooses to believe, but the only "groups" around here are a loosely coordinated group of like minded individuals.

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    1. Hi Allysandria! A few of us got together and decided to bring a SMART Recovery meeting to Charlottetown for that very reason. Not everyone believes in a higher power. There needed to be a second option. SMART Recovery works whether you believe in a higher power or not. It is not based on the 12 steps. It is science/evidence-based. It also supports the use of any medication, which has been prescribed by a doctor (ie methadone). So, you can be on medication or not. SMART believes in "whatever works" and knows that it is different for every person. The goal of SMART Recovery is abstinence from alcohol and non-prescribed drugs. Our program is also designed for other disorders too such as eating disorders and gambling. The strategies work for all. It has four points that we help people work on: 1. Motivation. 2. Coping With Urges. 3. Managing Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviours. 4. Maintaining a balanced life.

      We are currently doing the training to become facilitators. With any luck, we'll have our first meeting under way in March. I will post it on this blog when we are getting started. In the meantime, you can take part in SMART Recovery online is you wish. They have meetings online, message board, and a chat room. You can find support there 24/7. They also have lots of tools that you can use to help in your recovery. They are the tools that we would use at the meetings as well. Don't wait for us! You can get started now. Here is the link: http://www.smartrecovery.org/

      Best of luck, Allysandria! I hope to see you at one of our meetings when we get going. Take care.

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    2. Allysandria, if you have any further questions, please feel free to send me an email at behindtheaddiction@gmail.com.

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    3. Agnostics & Atheists (+theists) connect through PEI Humanism http://humanismpei.wix.com/acir/

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