I attended a program last night; a benefit for Recovery Cafe (thanks Anne for the tickets), David and Nick Sheff. Father and Son. Both have written books from their own point of view of the son's struggle with drug addiction. A genuine and candid presentation.
I selected this picture; I have some with clearer focus but I liked the body language in this shot. Nick's saying something and they are both amused. Anyone who has gone through this experience knows that there is scant room for relaxation, good times, satisfaction even hope as each family member pays the price of the addiction cycle.
Short program, then questions. They took turns at the lectern with other intently listening. Sharing their own experiences. The frantic, frustrated, panicked parent acknowledging the damage done to Nick, himself, the rest of the family. And Nick describing the allure of the drugs and the inevitable self-centered world of the addict.
Not that this story is complete. Curtis saw them speak two years ago and Nick started using again in the interim. Relapse, but that begs the intentionality.
I went with Curtis, we ran into quite a few other parent group people there. Curtis pointed out that Danny was a better speaker than Nick. Danny speaks about a lot of the same matters and also writes articulately. This family had the resources for 5 inpatient stays. The family had connection such that Nick had a book contract early on. However, he was clear that the advance greatly enabled his drug use.
"Never give money to an addict" Danny said on his way out of inpatient.
Our Japan trip now is truly developing. Nobuko and Natsuko generously are making all the arrangements and will accompany us. My mom would have been so pleased. She was very excited about this trip, I shared the much sketchier details the last time I was there when she was in the medicare unit. She loved the idea of me going to Japan to visit Nobuko, she just wished she was going.
No comments:
Post a Comment