Great: “The Moms of The Addict’s Mom”

Great : "The Moms of “The Addict’s Mom” Written by Sherry Schlenke, The Mother of a Beloved Boy With The Disease of Addiction William Shakespeare: “Some are born to greatness, while others have greatness thrust upon them” ( Twelfth Night.) Shakespeare’s words are most often attributed to males who are leaders: Washington, Lincoln, Churchill, Reverend Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and war heroes, among others. These are people, perhaps previously obscure, who refuse to let adversity or challenges defeat them, rather, they provide solutions and act upon them with tremendous success. History tends to commemorate and glorify these great people, as is their due. Synonyms for great: admirable, exceptional, fantastic, marvelous, excellent, stupendous, wonderful, amazing, superb, incredible, phenomenal, astounding, tremendous (www.thesaurus.com/browse/) Given the multiple meanings of “great,” I believe that we, the moms of children suffering with the disease of addiction, although not born to greatness, have had greatness thrust upon us. We are ordinary women who have risen to the challenges of being the mother of a child battling addiction. Are we not admirable as we feed, house, and clothe our child despite the wrongs that he or she may have committed? Are we not exceptional as we visit our child in prison, in a shelter, in a treatment center, or on the streets? Are we not fantastic as we deliver backpacks and meals to the homeless, to the ill, or to another mom’s child? Are we not marvelous as we climb out of bed after a sleepless night, and complete what is expected of us for our children, spouses and boss? Are we not excellent as we make phone calls, and consult with experts in the field of addiction, thus becoming educated and informed? Are we not stupendous when we arrange and pay for treatment, and replace for the 100th time the personal items that our child will need when in treatment? Are we not wonderful when we go to meetings, offer support to other moms, and embrace total strangers bonded to us by our common tragedy? Are we not superb when we rush to the bedside of another woman’s child, deliver food to an airport for another woman’s child as he makes the journey home from treatment to his own mother, and when we sound the rallying cry on TAM for a mom who needs support, information or advice? Are we not incredible when we sew a hand-made quilt with patches depicting our children, and unveil the quilt as we march in Washington D.C. to demand of our lawmakers that attention be paid to our cause? Are we not phenomenal when we help launch a missing person search on social media, for the son of “The Addict’s Mom” founder, Barbara Theodosiou, interrupting our Easter dinner to do so? Are we not astounding when we stand beside the casket of our beloved child, or of another mother’s child, who has died from the disease of addiction? Are we not tremendous when we defend our child, respect our child, and catch our fallen child? I believe that we moms of “The Addict’s Mom” possess all of these fine qualities. When greatness was thrust upon us, we did not collapse under the challenges, for we embraced them. We became GREAT.