I had my first real drink when I was 15. I was in a boarding school near an affluent suburb in Pretoria, South Africa when my friends and I jumped the fence on Wednesday night and snuck to a bar [...]
My parents couldn’t have been more different. My mom was emotionally present and very involved. She never made me feel like a burden. She never drank too much. She was the glue that kept our [...]
How I Lost my Mom to Addiction—and Found the Road to Recovery Some of my earliest memories are of my mom hanging out with her friends, drinking wine and getting tipsy. When I was little, it [...]
I walk the halls like the old me is here, but I cannot find her since she disappeared. She’s been replaced by darkness; the light flickered out Childlike spirit abused and spit out. [...]
TRIGGER WARNING ♥ Cozy Blankets and Coffee Needed ♥ (This content deals with suicidal thoughts, depression, and childhood sexual abuse). It happened many years ago, but I’ve never [...]
On September 1, 2020, my co-authors and I released The Addiction Diaries —a collection of 18 stories intended to humanize addiction, end the stigma, and offer hope to those who are [...]
How to Heal Depression by Making Friends with the Dark “Truly, it is in the darkness that one finds the light, so when we are in sorrow, then this light is nearest of all to us.” [...]
TRIGGER WARNING ♥ Cozy Blankets and Coffee Needed ♥ (This content deals with sexual assault, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder – PTSD). I died Christmas of 2013. Broken like a [...]