Montgomery Smashing The Stigma

The Struggles of a Parent of an Addict with Sandy Corrado

• City of Montgomery, Ohio • Season 1 • Episode 18

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In this episode, we sit down with Sandy Corrado, who shares her emotional journey of raising a child battling addiction. From sleepless nights and shattered trust to moments of hope and resilience, this candid conversation explores the raw realities, unexpected lessons, and the enduring strength of love in the face of struggle.

Sandy participated in our recent panel discussion about addiction and recovery. You can view the discussion on the City of Montgomery YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLfpfgVLuUs.

If you are interested in joining Sandy’s support group, you can reach her at 513-515-2182 or by email at smcorrado48@icloud.com.

Amy:

Welcome back, listeners to the Smashing the Stigma podcast. I'm your host, Amy Frederick. And joining me is my co-host Connie Gaylor, who is also with the City of Montgomery. In this episode, we welcome Sandy Corrado to the podcast. Sandy was one of the panelists at our August 28th community panel presentation on addiction. Thank you for coming in, Sandy. We're glad you're here.

Sandy:

Oh, well, thank you for having me. And and you're very welcome. I'm happy to be here.

Amy:

Sandy. On August 28th, your perspective was a little bit different than our other panelists. You spoke from the parents point of view. Would you mind sharing your story of your son's addiction journey?

Sandy:

Sure. Uh, yeah, if you've got about five hours, but, uh, I'll I'll shorten it. Um, yeah. Well, really, when I became aware of his addiction was 16 years ago when my husband died, and, um, we had suspected he was dabbling, trying things. He was in high school, and, you know, maybe drinking with his buddies, doing a little bit of that that kids do in high school. But then after my husband passed away and was a sophomore, um, six months later, he came to me and I could see the change. But he came to me and said, I think I'm becoming addicted to Vicodin and Xanax and alcohol all at the same time together. And he was doing that daily. And then from there, things spiraled out of control. He went from those pills, which he had become violent, um, but still living at home because of his age. And, um, then he moved on. Tried cocaine. Tried. Tried heroin. Tried. Um, I'm not even sure what else, but he, um, he didn't didn't stick with cocaine, But he eventually graduated to meth and became a meth addict. But during his journey, he has completed nine rehabs, nine stints. And uh, during those years, he became homeless. Um, when he was 18, because he. That's the age, I mean, until he was 18. I had to keep him at home. And I didn't realize there were resources out there at the time. So I just kept him at home, and, um, I was kind of drowning with him. Um, and he he would. I realized that he was actually stealing from me, and I knew he was high all the time, I could tell. To this day, I can tell. Um, and, uh, he was homeless at 18 when I realized he was stealing from me, stealing my jewelry, stealing things around the house. And he was violent in the house. Not towards me, but he would break things in the house, that kind of thing. I would have to pay people to come in and repair. So I just realized and I said to him. You have to you have to leave. You can't live here anymore. But I'm not saying that I want to. I don't ever want to see you again. I don't want to hear from you again, because I do. I want you in my life, but you can't live here. And, um, that freaked him out. And, uh, but I, I stuck with that because I had to protect myself. I was sleeping with a baseball bat. Yeah. And, uh, so then he became homeless. And, you know, at that time, as a parent. I was like, oh, I just want to get up out of bed, go downtown and find him and bring him home. But I also knew that wouldn't be best for him, because if you give comfort, it just allows him to continue. So it was tough. And he would, um, he was downtown and then he. Went into rehab. His first rehab. And I'm not sure if he was serious about it or not, but it was a place to stay.

Connie:

I was going to ask if it was a residential.

Sandy:

Yes.

Connie:

An in-house, um, treatment facility.

Sandy:

If it was inpatient treatment, yes. And, um. Yeah, he he went there, but then and it was a seven month program, so it was good. It was long. And that's really, I feel what's important. But after two and a half months, they kicked him out because he found a way to bring drugs in and which corrupts the others who are trying to embrace recovery. Yeah, yeah. So that was his very first rehab. And, uh, that's and that's at the point where I started realizing that in order to save myself, I needed to set boundaries. So I was paying for that rehab. They didn't take insurance. And then, um, he went from there. He became homeless again because he said, well, I'm going to this other kid that was kicked out with him. His mom's going to take us to another rehab. And I said, great, how are you going to pay for it? He's like, well, aren't you? I said, no, I'll do anything once for you, but not twice. And you apparently haven't learned from it. So then he oh, gosh, it just spiralled horribly. He went in. I don't even know where his other rehabs were. There were nine of them. I know, I remember some of them. Uh, one of them was in jail. He was arrested for possession, and, um, and he went to jail, and it was a six month sentence. But four of those months were in the, uh, Talbot house, uh, in Cincinnati. One of the Talbot houses, which is rehab while you're in jail. Um, it's off site of the jail, but, um, so. And I would visit him there. Not very often, but I did. He was there for months. Um, and I could tell he wasn't taking it seriously. And I was right. As soon as he got out, he started using again, went back to the same friends. And that's important You've got to change your friends. So then he, uh. Oh, gosh. Then he, uh, after he he went, he went into another rehab that was unsuccessful. Like I said, nine. There have been nine. Then there was one out in California that, um, uh, dear friend of mine, uh, retired Montgomery police officer, um, his, uh, his son went out there and he, he liked the program. And I gave the information and I said, you know, I've done some legwork, but here's the information whenever you're ready. And then, uh, he was kicked out of his apartment, and he called California. And again, I believe it was because it was a place to go for free food and a roof over my head. And insurance paid for it because, well, he was out there a couple months in. He was kicked out and, uh, and they called me and told me they were going to kick him out because he was bringing LSD in. And the other guys who were embracing recovery, uh, reported him. So then he was homeless there, and meanwhile, his girlfriend wanted him to come talk him into coming back to Cincinnati. And he did.

Connie:

Was she also a user?

Sandy:

Well, she's an alcoholic, yes. I did not know that at the time. And she was doing some of the stuff he was doing. Um, but, uh, you know, to this day, she is an alcoholic. But, um, you know, in coming back, uh, I even then I said you can't come back home. Um, get a job. Do get an apartment. Whatever. But. So he was homeless at that point. Then he started using again, and she got pregnant. They moved to Kentucky. Um, and he still kept using. And he's still down there now on probation, but, um, he just. They had a baby. He's eight years old now. He's adorable. He lives up here, so I do get to see him. That relationship fell apart, and, uh, then he went on to live with another woman down in Kentucky, and he was arrested with her. They were very involved in drugs. Like I said, things spiraled and just got worse and worse. They had, um, I think they call it a trap house. Where you go If you're an addict, you can go there. They have the drugs there. They buy the drugs somewhere, a dealer, and they have the drugs there. You come to their house and you shoot up and then and you pay them. But then you leave and you don't leave with any drugs on you, you know, you shoot up heroin, whatever. And, uh, but during that time, I guess he was he, he got busted a traffic violation, and they found enough to charge him with, um, intent to distribute, which is selling. Dealing.

Connie:

Yeah.

Sandy:

And, um, then Covid hit, so he should have done 5 to 10 years, but they gave him probation, which allowed him to continue his activities trying to fly under the radar. And, uh, I still I mean, I wanted to hear from him. Like I said to him before, I want to hear from you, but you can't live here. The other thing that I have told him, too, is I will never bail you out of trouble. But I will always walk beside you. And I think that's another good thing for parents to as one of their boundaries.

Connie:

Mhm.

Sandy:

Um, because I didn't want to cut him out of my life.

Connie:

No. Yeah.

Sandy:

Um, so that, that really kind of brings us up to I mean, he was on probation. Oh. He was. Oh. Then he came up to Cincinnati, um, and asked me to put him in rehab somewhere up here. So I have contacts, and I contacted a couple of those people, and they found a rehab in Dayton that was willing to take him, and we drove him there and he was very high on meth. Very oh my gosh, very scary. Um, and we we drove him up there and two weeks later he was out of that rehab and homeless in Dayton, still somehow finding meth. I don't know how he's paying for it. I do know sometimes people will prostitute themselves or steal or things to sell. So, um, at that point, he he wanted to be taken downtown to a homeless shelter. And so my husband and I attempted to do that. I am now remarried after being a widow for ten years. And, um, my husband and I, um, took him downtown, and then he refused to get out of the car. High on meth. And here, once again, something difficult for parents to do. But you've got to understand that you must do it in order to save yourself, because there's nothing you can do for the addict. I told him, and whatever you do, tell your child you need to make sure you're willing to do it. So I told him, well, I'm going to call 911. The police will come because I need you to get out of my car. So he wouldn't get out of the car. And I called 911. And while I had them on the phone, he jumped out of the car and ran. And then, uh, we left him downtown. Next thing I know, I don't even know how much time. Later, days later, I get a phone call from him that he was arrested. He was in jail. He had gone to a homeless shelter. He had. Uh, he was high. He was not complying with the homeless shelter. Homeless shelters do have social workers there to help the homeless people get on their feet, get jobs, whatever. And he wasn't complying. He wouldn't even give them his name. And they said, well, you can't stay here at this homeless shelter. And he punched a social worker in the face and broke his jaw in multiple places. So he was arrested for that. Um, you know, by the grace of God, the social worker decided not to press charges. But the arrest stuck, and he was sentenced to six months in jail. Then the judge said, and when you get out of jail, you'll be extradited to Kentucky. Because he had fled Kentucky while he was on probation. He was extradited to Kentucky. The judge saw something, I guess, worth saving, and When he sentenced him to six months in rehab. So that means a year, six months in jail, six months rehab. And that brings us up to to the current time now. He spent a year drug free, drug and alcohol free. Even though it wasn't by choice.

Connie:

Sure.

Sandy:

And, uh, then he when he got out of there, I mean, our relationship grew and, uh, he started, he decided he wanted a relationship with his son, who I said is eight now. He got a job. And, uh, that was, uh, well, September was two years that he went to jail for six months. So during this two years, he did last April, meet a girl who is a recovering addict. And I believe just reading between the lines that she convinced him to try cocaine. So during the two years, he relapsed for five days. But he immediately put himself back in rehab because he doesn't want to live like this.

Connie:

Yeah. How old is. How old is he now?

Sandy:

32.

Connie:

Okay. Okay. So this has been.

Amy:

That's quite a journey, especially. And for you too. I applaud your efforts to say there are boundaries, and we'll get to that in just a minute. But I was kind of surprised when you said that he came to you and said, I'm getting addicted. What was your what did you what did you do?

Sandy:

Uh, he was crying. I was crying, and I told him I will do anything to. What would he I, I suggested counseling, I said, what would you like to do? And he said, yeah, I want to see a counselor. And he has tried a couple of times to see a counselor, but when things get tough, he bails. He shuts down like, no, I'm good, I'm good. And then he doesn't go back to the counselor.

Amy:

How do you think that started? When he was young and getting into drugs. How do you think?

Sandy:

Well, I remember when he and I should. I should have prefaced this. The whole thing with he was adopted. He came to us through foster care. So both of his parents were addicts. So there is some predisposition there.

Amy:

I was just going to ask you if addiction was part of your family.

Sandy:

Part of his family, for sure. But he always I remember well, he always struggled with the adoption.

Connie:

Mhm.

Sandy:

He knew he was in a loving family. But separate from that is the whole thing that. Well my family didn't, they didn't want me, they didn't do what was right to keep me and they actually put me in harm's way. And so he struggled with that. But I remember when he was in junior high and he started hanging out a little bit at school because he couldn't drive. So we were in control, but with the troubled kids. And I asked him about it one day. And his response to me was, I just want to be liked. And they like me.

Connie:

Yeah.

Sandy:

And so, yeah.

Connie:

And unfortunately, I think that's what a lot of young adults, um, Teen Face do too. You know, I think coupled with, you know, and and man, let's also recognize the fact that you are in the midst of deep grief.

Sandy:

Yes.

Connie:

I mean, you are dealing with grief at the loss of your husband. You're dealing with that grief, you know. So he lost his dad. You lost your husband.

Sandy:

Suddenly.

Connie:

Suddenly and.

Sandy:

Unexpectedly.

Connie:

Um. Which I can't imagine having to face that and all the steps you have to take to move on. Now, being a widow and a single mom. But dealing with these issues at the same time. And, um, you know, so how you made it through and were able to be so strong to set the boundaries that you knew you needed to set because honestly, as, as a mom, um, I think it would be so natural just to hold on to them so tight because you've suffered such a great loss that you just cater and enable. And so to be able to, to set some boundaries, that shows a level of strength in you that I think it would be very hard for, for most, you know, married couples who would be facing it together and you're facing it on your own, and that's big. Um, you know. So where did you seek some kind of counseling and therapy throughout this as well, to help kind of guide you and give you the tools that you needed?

Sandy:

Yes, yes, I did, I did, um, I was actually in therapy for seven years. Yeah. Because I needed to stay strong. I knew that and, um, to I had to get some tools to, to help me because you're right, I was dealing with grief, but I kept putting the grief, you know, on the back burner and trying to deal with my son, who I did not initially say was an addict. I was there were times when I just wanted to sit in a corner, put my hands over my ears and close my eyes and wake up in about five years.

Amy:

Oh yeah, I can understand that.

Sandy:

I didn't want to deal with any of this. And the loss of my husband, my best friend. 34 years.

Connie:

Yeah.

Sandy:

And and it was a good marriage. He was my best friend. So this was really hard. I had no one who was walking in my shoes to turn to, and even one of my friends gave me advice, which I will tell you is the worst advice you can give someone in this situation. She said she I don't, I she's not in my life anymore. But she said to me, just don't think about him. Don't think about . When you start to think about him, just put it out of your mind. Just don't think about it. Well, I challenge any one of you to not think about your kids.

Amy:

Oh, I agree. You can't put your child out of your mind, especially in this situation, because I think every time that phone rings, you're sitting there wondering, is this the call that's going to tell me he's been arrested. He's no longer alive. What's it going to be?

Sandy:

Yes. Or watch the news. You know, when he was in jail, I could watch the news. I could, you know, because I knew I wouldn't see him on the news. A drug deal gone bad or he was arrested and, you know, but, uh, so that was. But, yeah, I, I knew early on because I was grieving so deeply and trying not to grieve so I could deal with and help my son. But I couldn't lose myself.

Amy:

Yeah, well, I thought that was an important point you made when you said you had to set boundaries, and then you said, I will. I won't bail you out, but I will be with you. How long did it take you to get to that point? Because I'm with Connie, I. I would think most people would run. And the thought of their child sleeping on a street in January in Cincinnati would be terrifying. So I think you did what you had to do. But I know that must have been very hard.

Sandy:

It was hard. It was hard. Um. Uh. Well, walking beside him, you know, I didn't bail him out. And there were times when he was arrested and he would go to jail for a night or two and call me to bail him out, and I would not. Mhm. Um, and uh, those, but those times when he was homeless, like I said, I really wanted, I'd lend my warm bed at night thinking I just want to go downtown and find him and bring him home. But at the same time my thoughts were, but is that good for him? Bring him home, give him a warm bed, hot shower, food in the pantry, everything he needs and he still can then use drugs. Do you know he needed to experience something tough? Mhm. Mhm. And you know I'm not sure that was even a conscious thought. I just knew it wasn't good for him to come home.

Connie:

Enabling?

Sandy:

Yes, enabling. And there is that fine line a lot of people think. Enabling. Well, if I don't do what he wants or she wants, they'll think I don't love them. And that's two separate things. I will always love him. You know, on one hand there's the love that's always going to be there. On the other hand, there is what they're doing in their life and you can't support that. But you can always love them and keep them in your life. But like this. Uh, there was a quote in a book that I read that said, uh, when the addiction is active, families should step away. When recovery is underway, they should move closer. And that's what I would do. But even when I would step away, I would still if he would text me if he had a phone or call me. I was there for him emotionally.

Amy:

Mhm.

Connie:

Well, you know, and I applaud you for that because here's the struggle. The struggle is you were trying to keep your mental health intact so that you could work through the grief. But if you didn't you wouldn't be able to be there for him. So you know, for anybody who thinks that they could, you know, stand in your shoes and make a judgment, I don't know how they could because, you know, if you always say, you know, you you can't be a caregiver to somebody if your cup is completely empty. Right. And so, you know, I think it was very smart on your part because if you had every time this is my opinion, I'm not a professional. I don't even play one on TV or anything. But if if every time he called, you went to his rescue and he came home and there was more violence and you put yourself at risk, then that next time something that very bad could have happened, you wouldn't have been there for him, you know. Where would he be now? You know. So, you know, you can't. Look, I feel like it's not that you were turning away from him. You were doing the right thing for him by taking care of yourself at the same time. Um, I don't know how you've been able to keep it all together. Honestly.

Sandy:

I don't know either. I know I'm a very strong Christian, and I have God in my life, and that is.

Connie:

That makes a big.

Sandy:

Difference for me. You know, I don't know how I would have gotten through it all without God. And but yeah, I, I don't know, I just had this sense of, you've got to take care of yourself. You cannot go down that dark hole with him, right? But also at the same time, don't abandon him. Yeah. Give him your love. You. You love him, so give it to him.

Connie:

Well, especially if if his whole issue when he became a teenager and started drinking and and doing things so that he would be accepted by those friends that probably weren't the best influence was because he felt lacking somewhere. If you hadn't stayed so fervent and showing him your love, then that would have probably just reinforced those feelings that he had of not being good enough or not, you know, those kind of things. But you've you've stuck the course and proving to him that you love him. You know, but you're not accepting of that behavior. Um, which is a strong message.

Sandy:

Yeah. I'm not. And I did tell him about that behavior because he blamed me all along this journey. He blamed me every time and he was high. But he blamed me. He hated me. You're not my mom. This is all your fault. You suck as a mom because moms are supposed to let you live at home and do whatever you want, and so you suck as a mom, and this is all your fault. And I wouldn't be. And you know what? If you would have had your jewelry under with a padlock, I wouldn't have stolen it. So that's your fault. All of it was my fault. But I knew the difference. I knew that wasn't . Yeah, that was the addict talking.

Amy:

I think that's a strong person, because I think I would have went straight to anger hearing that and him stealing. And I think a lot of people would have really been angry. And it's hard to separate sometimes.

Sandy:

It is hard. But you know, you have to do it consciously.

Connie:

Yeah.

Sandy:

You do.

Connie:

Well, let's talk about that. You do things consciously and and you you have told us and you shared about this at the panel. So I kind of want to transition to the support group you got involved in and what that how that's helped you and then how that you've used that to transition to help others? Yes. And there's a lot of parents out there who are hearing this and may be stuck. So there is hope that you can move on as a parent and you can help your your addict child hopefully move on as well. So let's talk about how you've gotten involved in that and how you've used that.

Sandy:

Yeah. Um, the support group started over eight years ago. Um, and I was there the very first day that it started.

Connie:

How did you find out about them?

Sandy:

A friend of mine Uh, emailed me and said, hey there. Uh, this friend of mine, uh, his name is Mark, and he wants to start a support group. His son's an addict, and I thought you might be interested. Why don't you come to the first, you know, meeting? I guess, when he was trying to put it together and see what you think. So I went, and it was held at someone's house and, uh, someone who had lost her son to addiction. And, uh, I thought, man, I'm in. I'm going to keep going. And so the group formed and met, uh, every two weeks. Every other week. Uh, we now meet once a week, I mean, once a month instead of twice a month. That all changed because of Covid. Yeah, because during Covid, we did zoom. We stayed together. Mhm. Um, but now we meet. We meet at my house once a month, but, uh. So, yeah, that group, for me, it was some. There were people walking in the same shoes. They got it. They weren't there to tell me. Don't think about your son.

Amy:

Yeah, yeah.

Sandy:

Um. And, um. They saw me as, you know, someone who never enabled and did all that. But I don't feel. I feel like that's that. While that may be true, it's because I didn't have an option. I was grieving the loss of my husband of 34 years, and then my son being an actor, I just had to take care of myself. Um, and so it wasn't intentional, not enabling. It was just I had to take care of myself, which resulted in me not enabling him. So. But to, you know, to say, the group just really helped give me each other actually coping skills. We started reading books. We've read seven books now, and the very first book, it is just amazing. It's called The Four Seasons of Recovery and it's meant for families of addicts. The books we read are meant for families of addicts, parents of addicts, not the addict themselves. And there's a lot out there for addicts if they want help. But there's not a lot out there for parents of addicts. So we've, you know, the group we've continued for more than eight years, almost nine now. And I do lead it. Like I said, I had become the co-leader and sadly, um, our leader four years ago lost four and a half years ago, lost his son to addiction to to drugs. And, uh, he stayed as our leader for a while. Um, but then it's.

Connie:

It's hard to imagine.

Sandy:

He was just in a totally different place than the rest of us. He lost his addict. So I host it in my home, I lead it, um.

Amy:

If somebody wants to join, what's the best way to get hold of you?

Sandy:

Well, the best way is, uh, I'm willing to put out there my email and my phone number. You can text me, you can call me, you can email me. I'm out there. I am, I'm open. I'm open to all of that. Um, and I do provide books. The books we've read, like I said, seven books. Now, um, I'm reading an eighth one. I read them before I buy them for the group, but there's no fee at all. Just come. Um, I give the books out, I order them and I pay for them, and I give them out. They'll never be a fee. And you could. It is. We do open with prayer. We end with prayer. But you can be an atheist. You can be. It doesn't matter. Jewish, Catholic, Christian, whatever. It doesn't matter what your, um, your belief, your Christian, I mean, your faith beliefs are just calm if you are struggling because setting boundaries and that's what most people come to the group and say, I'm not setting boundaries, I can't do that. So the books are very helpful.

Amy:

So what would you say to somebody who's facing this problem? What would you say to get them started? If I said my son is is an addict, what should I do? What would you say to that person?

Sandy:

The first thing I would ask them is about their relationship and where you are in the relationship and and setting boundaries, setting. Are you giving in to everything he or she wants? Are you doing everything you know? We had one woman come one time. Um, her son was living at home. She felt she had to have him at home. He was living in an apartment, but she wanted him, you know, because she wanted to make sure he would eat. He would sleep. And it just provided a comfortable place to use drugs. So you got to set some boundaries.

Connie:

What does your what does your son think about the support group?

Sandy:

He thinks it's good. We have a good relationship at the moment. I mean, he's not using. Uh, he did some cocaine for five days, and I don't know how long they did it, but it was five days before he put himself back into rehab. In the last two years, that's what he's done. And cocaine is not his drug of choice. His doc. So he said to me I could take it or leave it. I just, you know, did it with my girlfriend, but he ended up putting himself in rehab. So, um. But. Yeah, he's. Yeah, I just saw him last weekend. Yeah, because he comes up to see his son when I have his son. Yeah. Mhm. So right now things are going well. But again back to that quote from, from the the book. I mean, he's in recovery, so I'm moving closer. I'm moving closer to him.

Connie:

I'm. I'm very glad to hear that you have a relationship with your grandson and that you get seen regularly. Um, because hopefully, you know, when these days, you're going to tell us that your son's been in active recovery, but drug free for years. Yes. And that he has a great relationship with his son, and he's able to been able to turn his life around, largely because he is a mother who's been there to really support him through it.

Sandy:

When.

Connie:

He. That's big.

Sandy:

He has said that when he's not using, he has said, you know, don't ever blame yourself. You know, this was my choice.

Connie:

Yeah. Um, Sandy and we are so appreciative that you were willing to be part of that panel discussion, because getting in front of your support group, a small number of people where you have a lot in common is easier to talk about. Getting in front of a community of people you don't know, and you know, sharing your personal story can be intimidating. Um, and you have to be really vulnerable, which you have been, and you've been so open and we appreciate that. Can you tell us do was there a takeaway from that panel presentation that you've thought, um, I'm glad I did it or I, you know, I hope that I've made a difference. Or was there something that left a mark on you that night when you afterwards?

Sandy:

Yeah, there were a couple of things. Um, but I will say, like you asked, you know, I, I was glad. Yes, I was very glad I did it. My whole objective in doing these things is to get people like me who are walking in the same shoes to let them know we're here. We're walking in the same shoes too, and there's no judgment. So we want people to know there's a place to go. And we did have one person, our last meeting from this from the in the audience of the. Yeah, she did come. Did she come. And we've had six sign up. Mhm. Um so that's why you know that I was very glad that that happened, that the people did see me as, oh my gosh, there's something else out there, something that can help me. The two things that I really took away from this number one was in listening to the rest of the panel speaking the recovering addicts Maddox is. Yeah, it affects everyone. It affects everyone around you. When you're an addict, you're not just affecting yourself, your family, your job, your friends, your kids, your community. It affects everyone. And then I think the biggest thing that I've held on to for years that I came away from, is that there is hope. Hope. There's hope. And that's to what we in our group try and tell people. There was a dear, dear friend of mine, a mom in our group, who said to me, and I'll, I'll, I always have this in the front of my head. She said to me, Sandy, as long as he's breathing, there's hope. Yeah. And that's what people need to hear. There is hope, but you have to take care of yourself. You can't go down the dark hole with them.

Connie:

Mhm.

Sandy:

But yeah. So yeah I was very glad I did the panel presentation and I would do it again now that I've done it. Yeah. You know.

Connie:

Well hopefully this propels you and sounds like your group is growing which is awesome. And I believe there will be other opportunities for you to share your story and use it for good.

Sandy:

Yes, I hope so.

Connie:

And there'll be times when your son will probably look back and think, you know, we've been through a lot together, but we've also came out on the other side together. And that's what we're hopeful for.

Sandy:

Yeah. At some point I would like for him to come to our group because we do have visitors. We have guests. Recovering addicts or other family members of recovering addicts.

Connie:

That would be great. Yeah, that would be awesome.

Amy:

I like your message of hope because I'm sure in the dark days of that journey, it felt hopeless. Yes. And I think people need to know that there is hope. And I think that's a great point, to say that as long as your son is alive and breathing, there is hope. And he's lucky to have such a wonderful mother.

Sandy:

Oh, thank you so much.

Amy:

We want to make sure that, you know, to our listeners that we're going to put Sandy's contact information in our description of our podcast so that you can get Ahold of her and join that group if you think you need to. So if you would like to watch a recording of the 28th, the August 28th panel discussion on addiction, we have that. We've put that for you on Montgomery's YouTube channel. So you can take a listen to that. It's well worth your time. Sandy, you did such a wonderful job that night, and we thank you so much for coming to our podcast today to share your message.

Connie:

Thank you so much.

Sandy:

Well, you're very welcome and it's my pleasure to do this.

Amy:

Okay. On behalf of my co-host, Connie Gaylor and Sandy, we thank you for listening.