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1/25/2020

When I first found my way into a Naranon meeting, I could barely speak, I was spiritually and emotionally bankrupt. I felt absolutely certain that I was surely the most broken mother to ever set foot inside that room. After a few weeks I was able to actually read one of the steps out loud as they passed them around the room. Slowly I found comfort there just sharing space with people who have been in the trenches with the disease of addiction in a loved one. That was nearly 4 years ago and I would not trade my Naranon family for anything in the world. These people have carried me when my legs felt like I couldn't use them to stand. This program has taught me to keep the focus on me. It has helped me grow in ways I would never have thought possible, it has given me hope for a future whether my loved seeks recovery or not......and all I have to do is keep coming back. S

2/6/2020

I do not know the exact number of life-changing years I have been attending Nar-anon meetings in my city of Louisville, Ky. I know it has been many and I have established a second home on Monday nights at 8:00. I have a family there, even as the attendees cycle through, as new people come and others stop coming.

When I first walked through the doors of my local Nar-anon meeting, I had a 20-something year old son in active addiction. As I sit in a meeting today, many years later, his disease of addiction took his life. I have attended many other types of meetings since his death devoted to helping me through my grief. And while they have helped in many ways, I feel I have outgrown them. I will never outgrow Nar-anon. I hang onto the 12th step: "We try to carry this message to others who suffer as we have, hopeful that it will be received, remembering always that Nar-Anon is not for those who need it but for those who want it". (Sharing Experience Strength and Hope.)

Not everyone loses their loved one to the disease of substance abuse. Many enter into recovery and even bounce back to recovery after a relapse. It is totally up to the addict. What Nar-Anon teaches is that life can still have meaning for loved ones no matter what the circumstances. Easier said than done. But even if you are spinning in the insanity of addiction of a loved one, that one hour a week of being with others in similar situations is priceless.

I remember at my son's memorial looking to one section of my worship center and seeing my Nar-anon family. What comfort that gave me. It pulled at my heartstrings. The first three months after that I probably could not have recited the 1st of 12 steps. But as I sat numbly through a meeting, I felt comfort.

I asked myself many times what is the purpose of attending this group meeting when I do not have an addict in my life. The answer is simple. We are to share what we have learned and carry the message to others. I am not the only group member who has lost and still comes back. Several have lost and have another loved one who suffers the disease of substance use disorder. One of the slogans comes to mind at this point. "Keep coming back: it works if you work it, and you're worth it.

It's been almost 3 years since my life changed on that tragic morning that my husband and I found our son dead and I continue to fit Nar-anon into my weekly schedule. Very seldom do I miss a meeting. The faces of the attendees have changed but the story remains the same. As the newbies continue to return week after week I can see the wheels turning as they learn to live with addiction; as they learn what to do and what not to do; as tears turn to laughter, as their loved ones enter recovery programs.

The epidemic continues. As a result, our city has expanded to 4 meetings a week from 1. Nar-anon is helping so many more people in our community. What a great testimony to this program. I would like to see more people who have lost or have loved ones in recovery continue to come so that they can be a mentor to the new people who bring in heart-wrenching stories and are spinning out of control in the world of addiction.

Thank you to my wonderful, true, loving friends of Nar-anon. And thanks to those, so many years ago, who worked to develop this program.

Brenda

Louisville, Ky.

2/6/2020

I have learned I am powerless over the addict. I have to let go and let God.

I have been in Naranon for years and I'm very grateful!

I remember the despair and how alone I felt. No one I knew had a clue what my life was like living with my addicted wife and as hard as it was it seemed the easiest thing to do would be to keep it to myself. Sure, some people knew that something was wrong but they didn't know what. That was okay till I just couldn't take it anymore!

I learned a long time ago that addiction in a loved one is devastating. They soon destroy themself and the relationships of every person they deal with. I compare it to a train wreck, you see it coming, but you can't do anything to stop it.

I remember when I first started coming to Naranon, sometimes that one hour might be the only hour out of that day that I was able to have some peace of mind or talk to someone who understood what I was going through. That was priceless!

In Naranon there is no checklist to get my addict clean. But, there are people there who understand that can share their experience, strength, and hope that can help me change my actions so that I can take steps to getting my life back.

Today I chose to make choices to make my life that are healthier for me! And it's okay if others don't understand or like it.

2/15/2020

When I first came into the rooms of naranon I was lost, scared and totally clueless when it came to drugs of any kind. That was someone else's problem. Little did I know it was my problem and my worst nightmare. I never dreamed my nightmare would last 20 + years and turn my entire existence

I had no one to talk to. I was confused and downright scared, therefore angry. I was losing my youngest child. She ran away from home. She disappeared for days and even weeks. Stole from me. I has drug dealers calling' riding by the house. You name it. I found drugs and paraphana in my home. Woke up to find strange people

I had to find help and naranon was that help. There I could listen and talk to folks like I could no other avenue. In naranon no body jugldged me. No one condemned my actions. Most of all they understood me. They knew what I was going through. They knew just how scared I was how broken I was!

In naranon the members pray for not just the other members they pray for our addicts. It was here I learned that addiction was a disease. I learned how and why my anger was really my crutch to aide me in dealing with the absolute terror I was feeling each and every day.

Naranon has been and still is a blessing for me. It's not only saved my life but it has forged friendships I'll always cherish. It has taught me so many lessons I don't think I can count them.

Anyone who has a loved one dealing with addiction I highly recommend you get to a meeting. There you will find help and solstice in your journey dealing with addiction of a loved one. Its no longer about them it's about you!! The 3 C's, you can't control it , you didn't cause it and you can't cure it!! But you can work on you that you can control. You can cause a change in yourself and work to cure your own negative feelings! This leads to a healthier you! Take care to all who may read this. You are not alone!

2/15/2020

Before Nar-anon, I felt helpless and blamed my daughters drug addiction on something I may have done wrong when raising her. Thinking about her childhood, I kept thinking maybe it was because of the way I started her in school at such a young age and it made her insecure or maybe it was because I started potty training her at 18 months and it made her stressed. Other thoughts were, maybe because I had so many children and I didn't give here enough attention. I would try to go to sleep at night, blaming myself for her addiction. Feeling guilty because I was in a warm bed and she was out there in the world somewhere, possibly cold, hungry, sad or afraid. Determined, I would undo any harm I may have caused, I would try different methods to help her. I would give her items the were very sentimental to me and thought it would make her feel better and change her from wanting to do drugs. Years passed and the same pattern continually happened.

One day, a friend of mine, going thru the same thing I was, told me about Nar-anon. I was so happy to know there was a program based on drug addiction. This was a place I needed. I needed to listen to others with the same situation and hear their stories.

I have been going to meetings since November 2018. My daughter is still an addict, but I now realize, it is not because of me.

Nar-anon helps me by giving me the strength to continue with my life and realize my life is the only life I can control.
L.

2/20/2020

I came to my first Naranon meeting a little over 8 years ago, broken, living in chaos and crisis. I dreaded waking up every day just to make a list of problems and deciding what to deal with first. I thought if I was able to stop my addict from using drugs, everything would be okay. If she would just work, Pay her bills take care of her life, things would be better. I could not find the way to help her, but I did enable her for a long time and with a lot of money! I found help in the Naranon program for ME! I learned I didn’t cause addiction, surely can’t control or cure it. By learning to let go of my addict, let her be responsible for herself, I was able to focus on taking care of me, no matter her situation. It was not easy nor quick. Not perfection, only progress. I felt better after my first meeting and kept coming back each week. I learned from daily readings, talking with others, making phone calls, realizing we were all in a situation we never imagined we would be in. The support is amazing. My best friends are in the programs. They listen, understand as no one else can.
My addict has been clean 3 1/2 years. I had a lot of healing but still need Naranon. It helps me deal with all of life’s problems. I keep coming back to meetings to share my experience, strength & hope. I hope to be able to give away just a small part of what this program has given to me. My peace, less fear and anxiety are priceless! Please keep coming back! You will hear something to help you too😊
A.