fresh cut flowers
one of my good friends passed away this weekend. we met each other two years ago through a mutual AA contact... she had 8 months more than i did.
in may 2007 she relapsed, to everyone's shock, and took 36 vicodin in a 12 hour period. she was promptly sent to another rehab - her fourth, i believe? - in texas.
i felt a range of emotions - devastation, sadness, pity, concern, anger - the usual host of feelings surrounding a relapse – mine or someone else’s.
but as time went on, I heard from her less and less. a whole lot of life was happening, and we lost touch, save the occasional email here and there.
i hate this disease, this silent assassin.
there is nothing you can do for someone in the throes of alcoholism. i don’t care what the manifestation is – drinking, drugging, fucking – it’s all the same.
i am lucky i got this sobriety/ recovery thing before it was too late. i flirted with death, and wound up in the hospital more times than i care to admit.
Anyway…. Jenny was smart, funny, and beautiful. 26 years old. Last year we celebrated her birthday with a day at the beach. She was Jewish, and had a profound connection to her religion. On Wednesday nights she would cook us dinner – her specialty was pico de gallo – and finish it off with a desert of ice cream and gummy worms. She loved clothes, she loved makeup, she loved her family and her friends. Unfortunately, she loved pills more.
She relapsed another time in Texas, and was taken to a detox center. I guess the pills and alcohol were still in her system – because that night she took a bath and drowned.
please, if any of you are even questioning whether or not you are an alcoholic/ addict – just get in touch with someone who is sober. You can ask me, or someone else, just please reach your hand out.
my good deed today: organizing a memorial service here in newport. no rating.
