We saw our son three times over the last four days, and while today was the most serious of the times, our conversations have begun to lead us to believe that he is getting this, that he understands the severity of his disease and the consequences of taking his foot off of the pedal.
On Friday night went down for our usual Friday night family session. My father and step-mother accompanied us......this was the first time they had seen our son since the beginning of May. It was an emotional visit and I believe they got alot out of the group session. Our son participated and contributed even more on Friday night....an indication (we hope) that his sharing of his experiences is helping him come to grips with everything he has done.
On Saturday we went down AGAIN in the afternoon. Our son had earned another family visit at his house. We went down with our younger son and my wife's mother, who also has not seen her grandson since May. It was again very emotional. We had a good visit talking with our son. The highlight of the day was finally meeting his sponsor (who was down at the house leading a group session). We liked this man, ALOT. He is helping our son work the 12 steps and is really pushing him hard to get all the work accomplished. This is a lifelong commitment and we are encouraged that he realizes this.
Today we went down again to pick him up at 7am. He had a court appearance at 9 in Newark. This was a plea conference and the prosecutor offerred a very good deal that our son will probably take (it will entail NO jail time...our biggest goal). We had some lunch afterwards and then drove him back to his house. During lunch and the drive to and from court we had some good conversations about his recovery, his plans for looking for a job as soon as he is given permission to do so by the recovery center, and his commitment to keep clean and away from the people, places, and things that could lead to a potential relapse. When we got him back to his house everyone had just returned for lunch and their afternoon sessions, and they were all happy to see Matt and encouraged by his news......and he was happy to see them, which gave us comfort that he is happy there and working the program.
Are we starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel? I am not sure, but his attitidue and his actions are starting to make us feel that this is a good possibility.
Fingers and toes crossed......
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