Food For Thought

If one throws salt at you, you will not be harmed unless you have sore places.
-Latin Proverb

So as many of you know, I'm in the Drug and Alcohol Addictions program, and for a paper I'm working on I had to attend an Al-Anon, AA, and NA meeting. I want to talk a little bit about what I got out of the Al-Anon meeting. Going into the meeting, I had no idea what to expect. I assumed it would be just like the AA meetings you see in movies. Well there were some similarities, but it was also very different. I'm not sure if any of you reading this are familiar with Al-Anon, or even care what Al-Anon is.
This is from their website: "For over 55 years, Al-Anon (Alateen for younger members) has been offering strength and hope for friends and families of problem drinkers. It is estimated that each alcoholic affects the lives of at least four other people...alcoholism is truly a family disease. No matter what relationship you have with an alcoholic, whether they are still drinking or not, all who have been affected by someone else's drinking can find solutions that lead to serenity in the Al-Anon/Alateen fellowship."

Al-Anon doesn't get as much attention as AA or even NA does, and I think that is unfortunate. While members are there because of the alcoholic(s), the focus is on themselves. So many friends and family members of alcoholics give and give, and their lives focus around the alcoholic, well Al-Anon helps to bring the focus back to the person who is affected by alcoholism.

Al-Anon does not advertise but I wish they did. This would have been so helpful a few years back when a lot of the most important people in my life were alcoholics, had I even known about Al-Anon. So many people in this world are affected by addiction, there is help even if you are not the addict. Sorry, I'm not trying to make this sound like an after-school special, but there are a lot of silent sufferers out there. You aren't alone.

Anyway, the quote that I put at the beginning of this post is from one of the readings we did during the meeting from the book Courage to Change. The quote really hit home with me. It is so true for me. I try to not let what people say/do get me down but some things (and some people) really just know where to "put the salt" so it hurts the most. This proverb really brought to my attention that as much as I'd like to say I don't, I really do still have (several in fact) sore spots. I'm hoping to use my new perspective I gained from reading that proverb to really identify my "sore spots" and work on making it so they are not sore spots anymore.

Welcome Back Veterans

I've recently been getting involved with this organization, Welcome Back Veterans. According to their website, this organization was created to inspire Americans to give back to our returning veterans and their families. In addition, Welcome Back Veterans is also dedicated to changing the way people think and talk about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which affects so many of our returning Veterans. They also are dedicated to providing ongoing treatment for veterans and their families and also to funding research.
If you go to the website on the right side of the page, you have the option to Share Your Thanks by writing (typing technically) a thank you note to a veteran returning home, Invite Friends to get involved, or Support Veterans by making a monetary donation which The McCormick Foundation has agreed to match $0.50 of every dollar donated. There is a lot more to this website, and I encourage you to check it out!

I think that we as Americans do not thank those in the military enough. This is a great and easy way to do so, or even if you know someone that has been in the military or is currently, just tell them you are thankful for what they are doing/have done. You may or may not support the past wars or the war we are in right now, but at the least, you can support our troops.

A Season For Visitors

I cannot believe it's almost November!!!! That just blows my mind! October has been one busy month. After I got back from Indiana, I had a lot of catching up to do from missing classes. I got about 90% caught up, just in time for my midterms. I was really scared because this was really my first round of exams in grad school...and can I just say that I kicked some major butt on those midterms?!? I got a 92% on one, 87% on one that was so hard I almost cried in the middle of it (no joke!), and a 97% on my last one. I must say, that was the best I've felt in a while; it just felt so good to do well even though I had a pretty stressful few weeks leading up to the exams. I was able to finish up just in time for one of my best friends to fly in for my birthday weekend. We did what we do best...eat lots of good food! We also went out and experienced Columbia's nightlife for the first time, which was actually really fun! I always have fun with Susie, and it was really nice to have her here for a few days. Two days after she left, my dad and sister flew down for a few days. We did a lot of exploring in the area. It made me appreciate living in Columbia/South Carolina a lot more (and not just because of the weather, which is beautiful btw). We discovered this BEAUTIFUL riverwalk that is right by my apartment that I think I will try to go to at least once a week. We also went down to Charleston and saw that gorgeous city. While we were down in Charleston, we went to Ft. Sumter. Now I'm not a big fan of history stuff, but I must say it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It gave me some insight into the history of South Carolina, and some insight into the typical South Carolinian's mind. I would recommend it if you're in the area because it's cheap, interesting, and you get to take a ferry boat out to the Fort. Oh and I saw dolphins while on the ferry boat (It was my first time seeing dolphins in the 'wild')!!!
It's going to be weird not having visitors here with me...I just have to wait until Thanksgiving though because that is when Meagan is visiting!!!

Enjoy your day/upcoming week!

Its been a while...

So its been a hot minute or so since I last posted. Sorry for the hiatus...things have been a little stressful these past couple weeks. About two weeks ago (Sunday September 27) my dad called to tell me that my grandma had been taken to the emergency room because she was unresponsive and they couldn't get her blood pressure up. She actually had had a heart attack sometime Saturday night; she also had a UTI that wasn't responding to antibiotics that she'd been fighting for the last month or so. That infection had spread to her blood, and she became septic. The doctors told my dad that she wasn't going to make it, so he then told me I should get back to Indiana. This was all really difficult for me because I'm 10 hours away from my family, and I just wanted to be able to be say good-bye and be there for my family.
Luckily I got a flight out early the next morning, and I was picked up at the airport by my brother and sister-in-law. When I got there I was told we had to hurry because the doctors didn't think she was going to make it to the time I got there. She held on though, and the doctors took her off of the medicine that was keeping her blood pressure up. We all said our good-byes, and then came the hard part...the waiting. We had been told by many different people at the hospital that it wouldn't be long. Well my grandma was a very strong lady, and she proved them all wrong by holding on for an additional 4 more days. My dad, sister, and I had been sleeping at the hospital because we didn't want her to be alone. We were by her side when she passed away early Thursday morning. I know she's in Heaven with Jesus and the rest of our family that has gone before her.
Most of the staff at Hancock Regional Hospital were very kind, friendly, and helpful to us which was much appreciated. I also can't be thankful enough for our friends and family who were there for us, in person or in prayer. One of my former ministers was at the hospital for a couple days with us, and I'm so greatful. He was there for us when my mom passed away also, so it was nice to have him there with us again during our time of need.
It's been a struggle for me over the past couple weeks, not only grieving for my grandma, but it also brought up a lot of stuff from when my mom died. I was also stressing a lot because I missed over a week of classes, and I'm really having a difficult time getting caught back up (I'm trying to give myself more credit though because I've only been back for a few days). I know that I can get through this though, I just might have to remind myself from time to time!