Kristin's Rebirth

After six months in rehab, Kristin is coming to our house for dinner tomorrow, spending the night and going with me to the nine o'clock Sunday morning. It is a kind of raw time for us. The rest of the family hasn't even seen her clean and sober for years. I have since I visited her in jail, and then in rehab. I hope they see the change in her that I see, and that was celebrated at her transition ceremony at the center.

I like the Kristin I see, now. She's the same person, and yet she is so much more self-aware and focused. She knows the possible pitfalls, and her "triggers". She knows to depend on her sponsor, her counselor, her re-hab friends. She knows not to resume friendships with the people she did drugs with. She knows to keep her mother at arm's length. And she knows it won't be easy. That is very new for Kristin. It won't be easy, and she knows it.

I am in awe of the work she's done, and the way she's grown. I'm impressed with the power of the re-hab community to support its own.
This is a program that will experience funding cuts along with all the other important programs in Virginia. Selfishly, I'm glad Kristin got her six months before the cuts go into effect. I'd like to put a bubble around her to protect her, but I have been advised to not "enable" her. That never worked in the past anyway!

Now we will celebrate her new life. At dinner with family, at church, this weekend.
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