Whose Puppy Is It?

New Recovery Group for Families

My oldest son is a great guy and a caretaker by his nature. So it was not ultimately surprising when he came home from a friend’s house with the saddest excuse for a puppy I had ever seen. The dog was supposed to be four months old, but was greatly malnourished and vastly scarred. Evidently there were thirteen dogs in a variety of ages and sizes, and this little guy had not fared well as scraps were thrown into the yard as the sole form of nutrition. I am a sucker for most of God’s creatures, but my spouse is not. The family at large swayed Dad, and in all honesty, I wasn’t sure how long this little guy would survive. Now, highly relevant to the story was that this son was graduating in a few weeks and had already been accepted to a university located hours away from our home. This tale has a happy ending, since this dog is alive, spoiled, and well several years later. However that same son is now enlisted in the military and yet again headed for another continent while ‘his dog’ resides on my couch.

My contention is that puppies are not the only fallout parents and family members end up dealing with as repercussions of our young adult’s actions. We frequently have family members contact us with more questions than information. My relative is incarcerated. How does this work? How can I talk to them? I have to add money to their books for phone calls…how do I do that…how much does that cost? My relative was just sentenced, and now I have emergency custody of their child. Does DCS visit my home? Do I have to honor the previous custody arrangement with their child’s other parent? What if I don’t live in the child’s school district? Is there a program that is going to help me pay for the new expenses of raising this child or these children? All of this uncertainty accompanies the pain of living as the loved one of someone in a cycle of destructive choices.

No one knows this pattern and pain better than those who have walked this road ahead of you. This is the very reason that Champion Recovery is initiating a new chapter of the support group, Parents of Addicted Loved Ones (PALS), in Marion County. We have leaders currently in training to establish this group, which is slated to begin Thursday, April 13th. This is an entirely free resource for family members who are living and navigating a world they never wanted for their relatives. These meetings will be located at Kimball Baptist Church each Thursday evening at 6pm. Feel free to message us for more information.