By Theresa Anthony What a difference a week makes! One week ago I was mired in a month-long funk. A really, awful, dark bout of the blues that came out of nowhere in late November. That is the thing about the mysterious grief journey… it has a life of its own. Just when the sunlight peeks through the clouds and you pick up some positive steam to move forward some unexpected trigger flares up and rains on your parade. And then, just like that about five days ago I felt the gra

As anyone who has lost a loved one knows, the holiday season can be excruciating to bear. Layers and layers of memories and traditions...

By Theresa Anthony I didn’t plan a visit to the Knock shrine when I decided to go to Ireland this September. In fact, I really didn’t know anything about Knock, other than it was a pilgrimage site somewhere in the country. I was nearing the end of a two-week tour of Ireland when I decided on impulse to locate this site on a map. I then learned that it was just an hour or so north of our final stop in Galway. Suddenly I was compelled to learn the story of Knock, followed by a

By Theresa Anthony, Author, My 13th Station Writing this book was almost like giving birth to my son all over again. With my first book in the hopper and about to be published, I am spending some time reflecting on the process that has taken me a full year to complete. One year ago, I began the prep work for the book. It was an arduous task, digging up all those old emails and texts and printing them off. Dusting off the old journals and reviewing my entries was very time con

New treatment options for those who suffer from medication-resistant depression or repeated alcohol relapse offer reasons for hope.

By Theresa Anthony, author, My 13th Station For most of us, our introduction to the concept of the devil was probably a cheesy red costume complete with pitchfork and a creepy horned mask that we saw parading around the neighborhood on Halloween. Some kid chose the devil costume instead of Batman. In Sunday school or CCD classes kids were taught about the forces of good (God) and evil (Satan) and these lessons were clearly designed to nudge us toward the good side of that coi

It is a mistake to assume that the purpose of mindfulness is to avoid the distressing thoughts of past in favor of a blissful present moment

By Theresa Anthony, author My 13th Station As I approach this sixth Mother’s Day without my son I can't help but pause and reflect on the abundant joy he gifted me as his mother. Although the last few years of his life were rife with suffering, as his mom I still had many opportunities to share in his triumphs and be proud of his accomplishments—especially because they were so hard won. Every chip he earned in A.A., every amend he made, every effort he expended to restore his

By Theresa Anthony, author, My 13th Station Between the years 2012 and 2014 I had a purpose - boy did I. But my purpose during that two-year period was not the same kind of purpose I had, say, when I became a mom or when I started a business. That type of purpose seems to emerge and blossom from the event itself. You sail through the days fired up and hyper-focused, imbued with that purpose-fueled energy. Hard work is motivated naturally when purpose is connected to something

By Theresa Anthony, author, My 13th Station Slow down! Pace yourself! These were just a couple of my mother’s admonitions as she attempted to rein in the little Tasmanian devil that I resembled throughout my childhood. I have always gone about my days with a sense of urgency about them, like my pants were on fire. I have pushed myself hard all my life, as if the sands in the hourglass might run short before I could accomplish my daily objectives. This is just the crazy way I

By Theresa Anthony, author, My 13th Station Hollywood actually provided two very good films in 2018 with storylines that centered around addicted young adults. While this topic might not—well, probably won’t—appeal to the masses, for parents who have experienced the incredibly miserable and frightening nightmare of a child addicted to drugs or alcohol, these movies seemed to speak intimately to us. Beautiful Boy, based on the memoir of the same title written by David Sheff, w

By Theresa Anthony, author, My 13th Station Wouldn’t life be peachy if everything went according to plan? Where the only topics discussed with friends, coworkers, casual acquaintances, and family members revolved around the weather, the movie you just saw, or a favorite recipe. Nirvana. Utopia. Heaven on earth. We go about our lives with a perpetual smile on our faces, oblivious to any sorrows or sickness or struggles that might be lingering at the outer edges of our personal

[Author's note: This was the first blog I wrote while in the early phase of grief, back in early 2015. I re-post it here for the reader who has also lost a child, or for anyone interested in the grieving process] By Theresa Anthony, author, My 13th Station My nightly dog walks had changed. Over the many years I’d taken these walks with a succession of dogs over time, those 20 minutes always included prayer and reflection time. Geographically, they now took place about 3 miles