Conversation and Kleenex: Chapter One

This post was originally published September 26, 2019 on www.recoverycafelongmont.org by Lisa Searchinger.

A Single-Mother Finds Hope Out of Alcoholism

Local Community Comes Together

Last week, staff and volunteers got to bear witness to the purpose and love of Recovery Café Longmont. A secretary at a local church brought a woman who was struggling with alcoholism. She didn’t know how to help this woman, so she brought her to the Café for a site visit, but it quickly became much deeper.

Vulnerability

The two women — the loving, guiding hand and the struggling woman — sat across from a RCL volunteer and staff member, both of whom had lived experience in recovery. Through tears, the struggling woman made a vulnerable confession of her drinking and her sustained losses. She had lost custody of her toddler-aged children, was on the brink of losing her second job in 6 months, and was becoming all-too familiar with the Boulder County Justice System. She was drinking every day, all day, and had all the familiar emotions of someone struggling with alcoholism — shame, anger, hopelessness, fear.

The group listened to the woman as she spoke through sobs and fragments of sentences and stories. Her speech was symbolic of her own brokenness. When her story was told and the weight lifted off of her chest, the volunteer and staff member shared their own recovery experience, strength and hope. They held her hand cried with her. Suddenly, she wasn’t alone anymore. There were others who knew her pain and had a found a way out, and the woman who didn’t share that particular experience knew that a Kleenex, listening ear and a gentle mindful touch are powerful acts of connection. The woman told her story, and no one judged or backed away from her vulnerability.

Finding Hope

The struggling woman made plans to meet the volunteer at a 12-step meeting that evening. She smiled, hugged and thanked all of the women repeatedly. The air was lighter after that hour-long conversation. The woman could breathe again. No, her problems weren’t resolved in that hour. But she wasn’t alone anymore. She had community, she had a plan and she had hope. This is what Recovery Café Longmont is all about.