Purposely, for this last nine months, I have limited my contact with the staff I worked with for so many years in Detox. On November 5, one of my colleagues asked if I’d like to attend the staff party. And so I did with gratitude and delight. There have been so many staff changes in the short time since my retirement, but there were enough of my past colleagues present to satisfy my feelings of ‘homesickness’ that pop in every now and then. Some folks that I would have loved to see and visit with, were faithfully working their shifts, missing out on the noisy laughter and friendliness that was definitely a welcome balm to my soul.
Working in addictions, in Detox and in recovery facilities ~ those fragile, early stages of lifting individuals out of active addiction ~ are not easy jobs. Guiding lives broken and destroyed by the rocky paths and the uncertain marshes of recovery takes its own toll. Yet there are many dedicated groups of people, like the wonderful folks I shared supper with last night, willing to step up and step into this sadly funded fray. Thank you all for keeping up and keeping on.
“You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”
~ Kathryn Stockett, The Help
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