It’s taken me four and a half years to finish it, but it is done. Many of you have read about my journey of grief here and you have been so kind to offer encouragement for my writing. I have, however, finished some very different writings about my family’s journey through Aaron’s addiction. Those writings have been compiled into a book called, Chasing the Sleeping Dragon. On my blog, you’ve read about my grief after losing Aaron. In my book, you will read about the grief my family and I experienced as we walked through addiction with Aaron. This book is very different from my blog. It’s not for the faint of heart because it chronicles the ugliness of addiction.

It’s ironic, but I actually started writing this book the night before Aaron died….really. It’s taken me this long to finish it because at times it was just too hard to write about. At other times, it was therapeutic to write about the chaos of our lives as we experienced the highs and lows of addiction. Originally, I thought I would write about our journey in hopes that it would help other parents identify the signs of substance abuse in the early stages. As I wrote, however, my purpose changed. My hope now is that those who have watched a loved one go down the path of addiction know that they are not alone in the chaos that is experienced as you travel that road. I still hope that it can help parents identify the signs earlier, but I just want others to know that addiction is horrible, that it affects anyone and everyone, and that there is no shame in what they are experiencing. Its quite scary to know that my story is out there, but that was the whole purpose of writing about it.

Believe it or not, it still scares me that my family will be judged, that I as a parent will be judged, and that Aaron will be judged for his choices and his actions. But…despite the fear…it’s out there now. While I know that the book might have some typos and errors, it was vetted by Smashwords. It’s hard to catch your own mistakes no matter how many times you read over it and edit and revise. Regardless…it’s available for anyone to read.

I hope you can read it and if you do, please leave me a comment with your thoughts.

God bless you!