JHW Foundation

The Watkins family is working tirelessly to launch this new organization in a continuing effort to raise awareness about a pervasive issue facing our “children”.

A human life is a story told by God.
Hans Christian Andersen

______________________________________________________________
   
The JHW Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation aimed at combating substance abuse and addiction in young people. The Foundation, named in honor of John Henry Watkins, III, aims to aid in the rehabilitation of youth by donation to existing treatment facilities, the sponsoring of individuals through all steps of the rehabilitative process, and the implementation of an educational program to be administered at the high school level. We are happy to say that 100% of donations to The JHW Foundation will go to helping these young men and women in a full recovery. We feel that our mission is vital to addressing a growing problem in our community’s youth, and that our Foundation can help a multitude of people.

Henry had grown accustomed to winning. He was a leader in academics, in athletics and in relationships. He had a team spirit and a sharp wit about him and often encouraged others to achieve their best. Henry’s close-knit family also offered him stability socially and financially. After successfully completing his studies at St. Christopher’s, Henry enrolled at James Madison University with a bright future in view.  But Henry discovered one challenge that he had never anticipated: addiction to pain medication. He never suspected that he was “hard wired” for this disease. With the love and support of family and friends, Henry fought diligently toward recovery. But on September 19, 2010, alcohol and pain killers won the battle. Henry left his family and friends behind to sort out what could have been a quite preventable death. 
What would you be willing to do to keep your child or a loved one from the fate that claimed Henry?

The JHW Foundation was established in memory of our son, John Henry Watkins, by one of his close friends, Kevin Meyer. The JHW Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to the aid of young men and women facing substance abuse problems.

Company Overview
The purpose of The JHW Foundation is to advance education regarding substance abuse addiction, assist in the rehabilitation, and to promote healthy living by aiding individuals and establishments that help young men and women, between the ages of 14 and 25, who suffer from addiction to alcohol and other substances; facilitate their acceptance of sobriety and foster recovery.
.
/0 Comments/by

Taboo Topics

Last week, “Fifty Shades” Author, E L James, made her first public appearance on Katie.  In case you haven’t read this fictional trilogy, the subject matter is titillating and controversial, to say the least.  Like it or not, she has woven her way into the psyche of millions of people, worldwide.  
She had the nerve to write about a taboo topic.  
James acknowledges that there are those who are criticizing her writing. 
She tries to ignore the critics and write for herself …

I decided to open up a can of worms, myself, and expose what mothering addiction is like from an emotional perspective.  There are those out there who might not understand why I would feel the need to “put my business on the street”.  

I own my own truth and I want to relate this truth.  There are many others who are struggling and I want to put a voice to this pervasive pain.

Addiction is still a stigma, even though most of the medical world considers it a disease.  No one ever brings you a casserole when your child is an addict.  

My son is NOT his addiction. He’s a work in progress, just like the rest of us.    
I am not writing to sell him out, but to set the record straight.

In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott says:  “Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs; our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong….”  

It’s not the problem that will destroy you, it’s keeping the secret.


/0 Comments/by

Team Therapy and Tucker’s

Today, I am at a peaceful place, in my head and in my heart.  I’m still on the same uncertain journey with my son, but I now have the tools to start each day with clarity and resilience.  It wasn’t easy to get here – it took a tremendous amount of soul-searching, emotional work.  Although much of my life was pretty typical, a contentious divorce and an at-risk child just about did me in …

Aside from family, friends and my husband , I would not be where I am now without the tag-teaming efforts of my counselor and psychiatrist …. 

who are actually married to each other.  
10 plus years of team therapy.  How lucky can you get?  

Pat taught me so much about healthy boundaries.  She reminded me that 
“shit happens” and what’s most important is how you react to it.  
One of my favorite Pat sayings is .. “don’t create the story”.  
Meaning, don’t conjure up something that hasn’t happened yet, because it may
NOT happen that way and then you have to live through it twice….  

 Shortly after my children’s father and I separated in 1998, fear of reality set in.
The wheels were already falling off with our son.  I had my first, full-blown, knock your head off, think you are dying, wish you were dying, panic attack.  
It happened in my hometown in South Carolina.  
My mother had to drive me back to Virginia several days later.

I had experienced anxiety before, once, when I broke my arm, but nothing like this. I didn’t have a psychiatrist back then, so I called on one of my son’s doctors.  He fixed me right up with an anti-anxiety/anti-depressant and it held me through a lot of ups and downs for a number of years.

Remember the Christmas that my son’s arm was broken?  Just when you think that it can’t get worse… the next Christmas, the anxiety came back to bite me and I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Tucker’s, a Richmond psychiatric hospital. Pat’s husband, Dr. B admitted me upon my feeble request and the recommendation of a few friends…
I needed a lot of rest…. and my meds tweaked.  In case you’re wondering, 
they do have a Christmas tree on that floor… I took a knitting project (for relaxation), but they had to lock up the needles – hospital rules… 

Every decent-sized town has a psychiatric hospital which has long since been the 
reason for whispers and the brunt of jokes.  In South Carolina, it was Marshall Pickens (Greenville) or “Bull Street” (Columbia).  
I remember my grandmother, Margaret, joking about ending up on “Bull Street”
after it was all said and done.  (Of course, she never did)

In no way do I want to make light of my brief visit to Tuckers, but it does provide some good material for a few laughs with close friends and the 
Book Club ...  especially, now that I’m in a peaceful frame of mind. 

A little levity is good medicine, too  …..










/0 Comments/by

2 New Normals

While watching the nightly news recently, my husband made an indignant, but compelling remark about one of the many reasons our country has reached a 16 trillion dollar national debt.  I won’t quote him because it wouldn’t be ladylike, but here is the gist…  the American people have been repeatedly (nudged) towards overspending, by those who are large and in charge. 
A fiscal ambush.  
Each time we are pushed out of our comfort zone, we get used to it, settle in and     it becomes the new normal.

I believe that we have also reached a new normal in parenting.  Who’s to say whether it’s harder to raise children in today’s world; but I do feel that it’s considerably more complicated than it used to be.

The Price of Privilege, a New York Times bestseller, by Madeline Levine, Ph.D., eloquently explains this current state.  “In recent years, numerous studies have shown that bright, charming, seemingly confident and socially skilled teenagers from affluent, loving families are experiencing epidemic rates of depression, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders – materialism, pressure to achieve, perfectionism, and disconnection are combining to create a perfect storm that is devastating children of privilege and their parents alike”.

Levine goes on to say that “privilege is a relative term in this country.  The fact is, the United States is one of the most affluent countries in the world, and large numbers of our children lead lives of privilege unimagined in many places.”

This book hits the nail on the head. 

I would consider it a page-turner of self-help books.






/0 Comments/by