Lisa Smith / Girl Walks Out of a Bar
Adios, You M*therfucker.
Laura Shepperd / It’s Not All Rainbows and Ponies
My anger towards my dear old friend surprised me. My life partner alcohol had become a selfish sonofabitch.
Read MoreRemembering Not To Forget
The Wrong Guy / Part l: This Can’t Be Real
Matt Mendoza / Addiction Unscripted
“This can’t be real, this just can’t be real,” I kept thinking, over and over. “Please don’t let this be real.”
Read MoreCleaning Out My Closet
Especially For Children
Adrianne Lugo & John Lipscomb / The Painting and The Piano
At that time the mother was in jail and the father was nowhere to be found, said Ms. Abramsky.
Read MoreDead Stop
Dustin & Dallas John / A Walk In His Shoes
If I would have known that traffic was at a dead stop a quarter mile up the freeway, I may have fought harder to stay awake.
Read MoreHere We Go
HD / @hdbigjourney
How did I miss the signs? Or more to the point, how and why did I ignore the signs?
Read MoreThe Venus of Regret
Sondra Primeaux / The Unruffled
I was taught a lot about fertility goddesses and modern goddesses in my women's studies classes, but I was not taught how to not be cheated on by my boyfriend.
Read MoreDirt Nap
Sondra Primeaux / The Unruffled
When the familiar warm sunshine hit my face, I wanted to enjoy it for a moment before opening my eyes.
Read MoreTwo People Trapped in One Body
Kandy / Sweet Side of Crazy
“Mason, do you have a gun?” she asked.
“Well, yes…I have a gun. Why? Do I need it?”
Read MoreTijuana Tale / Part III: Oh, God, That Fear
Jason Smith / Author, The Bitter Taste of Dying
It’s a sad state to contemplate suicide from the deepest part of your being, only to realize you don’t have the means to carry it out. Which only left one alternative: severe withdrawal.
Read MoreTijuana Tale / Part II: Everything Went Black
Jason Smith / Author, The Bitter Taste of Dying
Mexico. The den of all things chemical. You can get anything in Mexico. Remember that feeling of walking into a Toys ‘R’ Us as a kid? That’s what it feels like for a drug addict walking into a Mexican pharmacy. Or Farmacia. Whatever.
Read MoreTijuana Tale / Part I: I Felt Something
Jason Smith / Author, The Bitter Taste of Dying
I’d spent the previous month sucking Fentanyl from a patch that was supposed to go on my skin, and now found myself in a world of concrete the Mexicans called a jail.
Read MoreThe Week of Infamy
David Greenspan / Lighthouse Recovery Institute
My parents and I have a running joke about what we call the Week of Infamy. It’s funny to us…now.
Read MoreAvalon
Nancy Carr / Last Call
I got drunk for the first time at age thirteen in Avalon, New Jersey. The evening set a standard of excitement nothing else had previously touched.
Read MoreSo I Can Be Quiet Whenever I Want
Drew Gibson / Virally Suppressed
Max would have turned 23 this January. I am forced to write “would have” because Max took his life nearly 4 years ago.
Read MoreLe Bête Noir
Mary Killian / High Wire Girl
I AM AWAKE.
Eyes open. And close. Twice.
I have several concerns.
Read MoreThe Class Ring
Kristen / Bye Bye Beer
The year or so before I found booze, I tried to fill that hole with God and boys.
Read MoreArrested, pepper sprayed… I think im ganna get clean.
Ginger / Diary of a junkie