It sure seems so. My son had a friend over after school yesterday. We have known this family just since November, they are new to our community.
When the dad picked his son up, we got into a conversation as usual, because this guy is quite a talker. He told me about another little boy's parents in their class who are crack addicts. Now I have met these people at school functions and although I wasn't impressed, it never occurred to me they were addicts. Duh! He told me how he knows this for a fact,and I believe him.
It doesn't end there. He went on to give me some of his own drug use history, "back in the day", etc. Then he said, "These days, I limit my intake to strictly pain pills!". Just what I wanted to hear while sitting in my own living room. LOL He had a bad motorcycle wreck 3 years ago, and since then has become dependent on hydrocodone. Explains his constant babbling and scratching, huh?
Just when I think I can spot one a mile away, I find out I am not as good as I think I am. And I am also saddened to be reminded, yet again, this disease is rampant and does not discriminate. The dad owns a very successful landscaping business, which he assured me, would fail tomorrow without drugs to help run it. Again, not what I wanted to hear.
Just random thoughts I wanted to share.
Hope everyone has a nice day. I missed our coffee chat this morning, beaners!
Love, Carol
Carol, hi babe, how are you doing? Yes, the world is a crazy place. It's funny how being an addict (a clean one) that you can spot those on drugs. Definitely sounds like his talking and scratching are drug-related, especially when he admits taking them!! I hope he has it under control.
We never know what we'll run into, that's why we always have to be prepared!! Like the Girl Scouts!! You have a great day, lady.
We never know what we'll run into, that's why we always have to be prepared!! Like the Girl Scouts!! You have a great day, lady.
Hey Natasha! Good to hear from you. I still intend to email you, i am a terrible procrastinator.
I stay at home, and I am still bombarded with drug stories! THey seem to find me regardless of where I go or who I talk to. This little town i live in is full of users.
How are you doing?
Hi Carol,
I almost what to answer yes to that question.....
My neighbor right next door......the lady down the street, the guy around the corner in one direction......A woman and her bf in the other direction....This doesn't count the others I know of just in our community..
Also that doesn't included the kids who are wrapped up in hell, or taken because of it......The things my kids tell me, what sadness in so many peoples lives....
All in pretty pristine middle america......
I hope that you are having a good day, take care of you....
Love, Tina
I almost what to answer yes to that question.....
My neighbor right next door......the lady down the street, the guy around the corner in one direction......A woman and her bf in the other direction....This doesn't count the others I know of just in our community..
Also that doesn't included the kids who are wrapped up in hell, or taken because of it......The things my kids tell me, what sadness in so many peoples lives....
All in pretty pristine middle america......
I hope that you are having a good day, take care of you....
Love, Tina
Carol, I'm doing well -- just enjoying this beautiful spring weather and all the glorious flowers! It's a beautiful time of year. I cut some peonies and put them in a vase and they are sooo pretty. I've got rhodedenron (sp?) blooming and azealas everywhere!!! It's so pretty.
I've gotta get ready for work -- but I want to stay home and look at all the flowers and lay on the deck!!! Oh well, someone needs me. Isn't it strange sometimes when you see other people doing drugs -- it's kind of like you know what road they are eventually going to have to go down!! Cause we've been there!! I guess maybe they'll all eventually be on the board!! It's a sad situation, but a real one. Good thing we are in recovery. I feel sorry for those still using. But, they'll get there!!
What are you up to besides staying home? Maybe you should get out more?? Love ya, babe -- have a great day.
I've gotta get ready for work -- but I want to stay home and look at all the flowers and lay on the deck!!! Oh well, someone needs me. Isn't it strange sometimes when you see other people doing drugs -- it's kind of like you know what road they are eventually going to have to go down!! Cause we've been there!! I guess maybe they'll all eventually be on the board!! It's a sad situation, but a real one. Good thing we are in recovery. I feel sorry for those still using. But, they'll get there!!
What are you up to besides staying home? Maybe you should get out more?? Love ya, babe -- have a great day.
good morning ladies,hope you don't mind that i've jumped in to your post.
but i find it kinda funny..it seem that just about evryone that i've meet has had some addiction problem w/ something,whether it be drugs or alcohol.
case in point,last nite while talking to a older lady,grandmother of a child that is bestfreinds w/ my son,she told me that she to had a problem w/ alcohol.years and years ago.i was sooo shocked.ya know, she's the
'lets bake cookies and drink milk,christian woman"
guess it goes to show that it can happen to anyone,anytime..
and we shouldn't feel the shame that is associated w/ addiction,we shouldget up ,wipe ourselves off,and keep movin..what don't kill us will make us stronger...
anyway,sorry to be longwinded..hope everyone has a great day....dj
but i find it kinda funny..it seem that just about evryone that i've meet has had some addiction problem w/ something,whether it be drugs or alcohol.
case in point,last nite while talking to a older lady,grandmother of a child that is bestfreinds w/ my son,she told me that she to had a problem w/ alcohol.years and years ago.i was sooo shocked.ya know, she's the
'lets bake cookies and drink milk,christian woman"
guess it goes to show that it can happen to anyone,anytime..
and we shouldn't feel the shame that is associated w/ addiction,we shouldget up ,wipe ourselves off,and keep movin..what don't kill us will make us stronger...
anyway,sorry to be longwinded..hope everyone has a great day....dj
So sorry to post and disappear, I got a phone call.............
Yes, girls, this drug thing is an epidemic. All of middle class America is seems uses something. And the lives are our children is what will suffer from it I am afraid.
Nat, the flowers are going crazy here, too. I love looking at them, and working in them. This is my absolute favorite time of year, before it gets too hot to do anything outside other than be in the water.
Yes, girls, this drug thing is an epidemic. All of middle class America is seems uses something. And the lives are our children is what will suffer from it I am afraid.
Nat, the flowers are going crazy here, too. I love looking at them, and working in them. This is my absolute favorite time of year, before it gets too hot to do anything outside other than be in the water.
Wow. It does seem like the whole world is on drugs. But really you just ran into one person who is addicted to pain killers. Don't worry it will catch up to him too at some point, it always does.. As for him speaking about other people. I never believe anything thats been said about someone else. I only believe what actually comes from the horses mouth myself.
Yes, tons of people i can think of and dont forget about the drinkers!! throw them in and whooo....thats alot of people.
carol,
i used to sit and think on this one, cause everyone i knew did drugs in some form or another. just some didthem to more exremes then others. it didnt matter which way i turned out my house i knew who was doing what. i used to think is that because thats what i let my world become? all my friends were drug users and i didnt know anyone who wasnt? well took me a long time till after i cleaned up i started rethinking. my yungest sister never touched a drug in her life. my sister in law same way. as far as i know no one on my fathers side of my family. my mother in law never had. i started coming up with all kinds of people i knew pretty much for a fact that did not use drugs to get through life. i also plan on becoming one of those people that no longer will further have a need to use to be happy. USING DOES NOT = HAPPINESS IN LIFE. i think some seem to think so. take hope and faith knowing that there is happiness in life outside of using and its far much better on a clean day then it ever was on any given using day : ) we just have to relearn to live with the good and the bad. find those people out there that are happily not using and enjoy becoming friends and being in the conpany of those poeple : ) i am just now learning this and loving it!! they ARE out there.
terrianne
i used to sit and think on this one, cause everyone i knew did drugs in some form or another. just some didthem to more exremes then others. it didnt matter which way i turned out my house i knew who was doing what. i used to think is that because thats what i let my world become? all my friends were drug users and i didnt know anyone who wasnt? well took me a long time till after i cleaned up i started rethinking. my yungest sister never touched a drug in her life. my sister in law same way. as far as i know no one on my fathers side of my family. my mother in law never had. i started coming up with all kinds of people i knew pretty much for a fact that did not use drugs to get through life. i also plan on becoming one of those people that no longer will further have a need to use to be happy. USING DOES NOT = HAPPINESS IN LIFE. i think some seem to think so. take hope and faith knowing that there is happiness in life outside of using and its far much better on a clean day then it ever was on any given using day : ) we just have to relearn to live with the good and the bad. find those people out there that are happily not using and enjoy becoming friends and being in the conpany of those poeple : ) i am just now learning this and loving it!! they ARE out there.
terrianne
Hey Boo Boo.....how are you? I hear you about being surrounding with users. My life used to be like that, too. Many years ago, about 6-7, I began to realize that most of the people I saw on a daily basis were very sick. We constantly had some sort of turmoil going on between us.......usually based on drugs.
None of those people have been in my life since then, and that was about 7 years ago. Now mind you, I was using heavily at the time, and I went on to become a full-blown pain pill addict, but I did it in private, without the help of my "using friends".
I have no close friends now who do drugs and I haven't in years.(As an addict, I couldn't allow that, because they would have wanted my drugs and I certainly was not going to share!) I am very fortunate today that I am surrounded by clean, healthy, family and church oriented friends. What a difference it has made in my daily life.
My remarks on this thread were about people I meet or who just happen in to my life. Not people I am close to or who I choose to spend time with.
It continues to amaze me how strangers are so willing to share their personal stories with us. There is rarely a week that goes by that someone who I do not know well confides their drug use to me. Be it at the school, grocery store, and now, even in my own home. That;s all I was referring to.
Hope you are having a great day!
You know, I really was an isolated instance within my co-workers and circle of friends. I was the drug user and everyone else, except for maybe three, who were already in recovery were not addicts. I didn't have a circle of friends who used, I definitely was an isolator, sneaky, in the closet kind of addict. Then I finally, broke and couldn't deal.
Rachel
Rachel
carol,
i pretty much know what you meant, but i shared what i shared by stating if i knew close people to me who were clean there sertainly has to be others. but yeah i know this is a huge epidemic. its all over the news and talk shows and is very unfortunate. for me i found what works for me is just to do what i had simply done in the years before i used and thise may sound harsh or wrong as an addict but that is just simply discriminate and steer clear of those people. because ultimately it is only them that can help themselves in the 1st place as we already know. we can share what we know till we're blue in the face. i might get my chops busted for saying this but i am in a new phase in my recovery and i am choosing now to move along and live my life clean and i dont feel a need to share with others that i am a recovering addict. i just simply walk my walk so to speak . my actions speak in volumes. i hope that makes sense. so now when i am out in my new life and i meet new people i hold my head up and i proudly display myself as the person i have always wanted to be and that is simply just myself : ) and i feel confident in doing so with out the aid of a mind altering substance
terrianne
i pretty much know what you meant, but i shared what i shared by stating if i knew close people to me who were clean there sertainly has to be others. but yeah i know this is a huge epidemic. its all over the news and talk shows and is very unfortunate. for me i found what works for me is just to do what i had simply done in the years before i used and thise may sound harsh or wrong as an addict but that is just simply discriminate and steer clear of those people. because ultimately it is only them that can help themselves in the 1st place as we already know. we can share what we know till we're blue in the face. i might get my chops busted for saying this but i am in a new phase in my recovery and i am choosing now to move along and live my life clean and i dont feel a need to share with others that i am a recovering addict. i just simply walk my walk so to speak . my actions speak in volumes. i hope that makes sense. so now when i am out in my new life and i meet new people i hold my head up and i proudly display myself as the person i have always wanted to be and that is simply just myself : ) and i feel confident in doing so with out the aid of a mind altering substance
terrianne
Hey Rachel! Good to see you! I found that the deeper I got into addiction, the more I kept it hidden. Again, mainly because I didn't want to share, but ofcourse it was a shame thing, too.
Today, and for the past 3-4 years, I do not have one close friend who uses. I am grateful that I don't have to deal with it with my friends. Been there, done that. Althougth none of my close girlfriends are perfect, none of them abuse drugs. And I like to think that is because I have become healthier and am choosing better these days.
I hope things are going good in your life, Mis Judy Jetson. Any word on the new job?
Boo...........no chop busting allowed here! I think the way you chose to deal with your own life and your addiction is great! Only you know what works for you, and with your success thus far, I sure wouldn't find fault with your game plan.
While I know the rooms are full of veterans with MANY years of clean time, I also know several recovering addicts who have stayed clean for years and haven't been to a meeting in years. What works for one, may not always work for another.
I am happy for you and your new found happiness (and your new kitchen)!
carol.
hahahahah thanks friend, as a decorator you wold love the back splash i picked out it rocks!!! (no pun inteanded its slate) and i picked out a viney boarder its rustic looking and check this out someone threw out some ceramic tile on side of road enough to do my kitchn floor, i dumpster dived lol my whole granite kitchen cost me $600 buck!!!!! can you stand it?!?!?!!? i only had to buy the sink which is granite and a double sink i love it!!! and the faucet and the back splash. i love it so much i wanna move my bed in. yeah i know i am bragging. bragging about dumpster diving lol but also seriously thank you so much about your support regarding my recovery it means alot. i know everyones way of handling recovery is a very personal matter. and i am very happy with my success. oh and also i applied for a new job that was just calling me name !!! i will hear about it today. if i get it. i wont have to travel anymore. i hate flying. so say me some prayers please : )
terrianne
hahahahah thanks friend, as a decorator you wold love the back splash i picked out it rocks!!! (no pun inteanded its slate) and i picked out a viney boarder its rustic looking and check this out someone threw out some ceramic tile on side of road enough to do my kitchn floor, i dumpster dived lol my whole granite kitchen cost me $600 buck!!!!! can you stand it?!?!?!!? i only had to buy the sink which is granite and a double sink i love it!!! and the faucet and the back splash. i love it so much i wanna move my bed in. yeah i know i am bragging. bragging about dumpster diving lol but also seriously thank you so much about your support regarding my recovery it means alot. i know everyones way of handling recovery is a very personal matter. and i am very happy with my success. oh and also i applied for a new job that was just calling me name !!! i will hear about it today. if i get it. i wont have to travel anymore. i hate flying. so say me some prayers please : )
terrianne
Brag away! Sounds like a beautiful kitchen and I am very happy you got it at such a bargain! I love a deal and that sure sounds like one! Just move your bed on it and enjoy it! After 14 years in this house, I need to be doing the same thing, but alas, am not. <sigh> Considering we are on the verge of being unemployed I may have to look at it for awhile. But HEY! We will be fine and I kinda still like mine.
What is the new job? I wish you luck with it, and am sure they are dying to hire you. I know you would be an asset to them, whoever they are! Be sure to let us know when you find out!
Have a great day! I am off to the shower, grocery store, and getting Cade a haircut. His hair is so thick it get as wide as it does long. I call him Fluffy when it gets this long! LOL
Ta Ta for now!
What is the new job? I wish you luck with it, and am sure they are dying to hire you. I know you would be an asset to them, whoever they are! Be sure to let us know when you find out!
Have a great day! I am off to the shower, grocery store, and getting Cade a haircut. His hair is so thick it get as wide as it does long. I call him Fluffy when it gets this long! LOL
Ta Ta for now!
I live in Los Angeles, and it's just about imposible to find someone who isn't on some kind of drug. Truly, just about imposible. It's expected, here. I never thought I'd be able to say I have a friend who does crack, but just a few months ago I found out one of the girls I sometimes hang out with does crack constantly. I never would've known! Pills, pot, and coke are huge here, and if you don't do one of them it's almost weird. I hate the fact that it's all around me, almost normal, but yet when I admit I have a problem people just want to point and judge, and not be accountable for their own abuses, know what I mean?
Yes, WW........you California people really rock! Just kidding, but I do know things are much more liberal and accepted there. Are you in LA? I have a couple of great buddies who live there. They swear by the AA/NA meeting offered in the area, though, Have you tried them?
Funny you ask, actually I do have a lot of friends in AA. Mostly because my brother and his girlfriend, both of whom I live with, have been in AA for around 5 years.
This is going to sound stupid, but that's exactly why I don't want to go to AA. I feel like it'll be too personal, me telling all these secrets to family, and also I feel like people would gossip: "oh, finaly she decided to join, I knew she was an addict, look at her whole family, it was just a matter of time for old westy." I'm a very private person. I know that AA is annonomys, but where would I get MY annonominity from if I already know everyone in the group and see them all the time?
I was thinking about driving to a different chapter, but that wouldn't work. They have get togethers and activities with each other, and I could never lie about where I was going four times a week for 3 hours.
Plus I really enjoy wine on a collectors level, I'd like to make it my career. I've never really had a problem with alchohol, or anything else. Like I said, I just knew I liked Vicodin so that was all I ever sought out, thankfully.
If I can do this on my own I'll be overjoyed. If not, then I'll have to have a heart to heart with myself and be strong about telling someone. I KNOW my brother wouldn't be mad or anything, because he's in AA, just concerned and worried.
This is going to sound stupid, but that's exactly why I don't want to go to AA. I feel like it'll be too personal, me telling all these secrets to family, and also I feel like people would gossip: "oh, finaly she decided to join, I knew she was an addict, look at her whole family, it was just a matter of time for old westy." I'm a very private person. I know that AA is annonomys, but where would I get MY annonominity from if I already know everyone in the group and see them all the time?
I was thinking about driving to a different chapter, but that wouldn't work. They have get togethers and activities with each other, and I could never lie about where I was going four times a week for 3 hours.
Plus I really enjoy wine on a collectors level, I'd like to make it my career. I've never really had a problem with alchohol, or anything else. Like I said, I just knew I liked Vicodin so that was all I ever sought out, thankfully.
If I can do this on my own I'll be overjoyed. If not, then I'll have to have a heart to heart with myself and be strong about telling someone. I KNOW my brother wouldn't be mad or anything, because he's in AA, just concerned and worried.
