Recovering opioid addicts are a mystery to people who haven’t experienced it in their families. How does the downfall happen? Destructive conditioning over many years has gotten the nation used to losing 40,000 […]

It’s hard enough to be sober, add high-functioning professional to the mix and the stakes increase

Mother of Kinkajous by night, professional by day. At this point in my life, I wear many hats while […]

Taking painkillers in sobriety — the taboo topic we don’t talk about enough. Can sober people take painkillers as part of a treatment plan after surgery? My experience is yes. Just because we are in sobriety doe […]

“I juggled kinkajous,” I said.

My coworker had asked me what I did during the previous weekend.

“I deep cleaned their rooms, revamped enclosures, went shopping for supplies, and took care of paperwork. I […]

About that night the relapse ended… There was a knock on my car window, the driver’s side. I had been sitting inside for the past hour or so, trying to get high — rather, trying to get “right.” My eyes met the […]

I didn’t used to know how to stay calm and sober when things went wrong, and it caused endless distress. Let me explain and set the scene that inspired this piece…

Learning how to stay calm when things go w […]

I care for 33 lives. Imagine the responsibility? I love it. I’d even say, I live for it. But, caring for 32 lives wouldn’t be possible without putting one above them all — MY OWN. That was a lesson I had to le […]

It’s 8 in the evening, and the party is about to begin. I look to the main room and see a thin, brown flash of tail skate across one of the ropes. The tail disappears into a hide box, attached to the c […]