This week I’m writing about something that has felt all-encompassing lately. Most of you who have spent any real time with me know I’m a pretty open book. So here we go.
Addiction.
I’ve learned that no one—no family, no zip code, no level of education, no amount of money—is immune. It does not discriminate. It can steal a life. And even when it doesn’t, it can scramble a brain so thoroughly that what’s left feels like a shadow of the person you once knew.
I feel like I’ve been surrounded by it. My kids have too. It’s mourning, chaos, and destruction all at once.
So what does this have to do with real estate? This isn’t just about substances. It’s about people. Families. Stress. Coping. Secrets. Shame. The things no one really wants to acknowledge.
We talk about heart health. We talk about cancer. We run for causes. We wear ribbons. But we don’t talk enough about addiction.
I talk to agents all the time who get the strange 10:30 p.m. phone call. The client who is clearly not okay. Maybe they’re drunk. Maybe they’re high. Maybe they’re unraveling. And we answer. Because they’re our clients. And sometimes we hang up and think, “What the hell do I do with that disaster of a conversation?”
Too often, we discount it. We make excuses. We minimize it. Society, upbringing, culture—somewhere along the line, we were taught to smooth it over instead of call it what it is. But ignoring it doesn’t make it disappear. We need to stop pretending this is rare. If you’re in the middle of it, you are not alone.
My family had a front-row seat to addiction. It reared its ugly head with multiple family members. There was disappointment. There was ugliness. There was helplessness.
My son, Jonathan, in high school, discovered he liked coding. He went from hacking Minecraft for fun to developing some of the highest-rated anti-addiction apps on Apple today.
He saw the chaos, including the vaping epidemic all around him. He saw that traditional models like AA didn’t always translate to younger generations. Ten years later, he has multiple anti-addiction apps on Apple. It’s how he makes a living. It’s a purpose born out of pain.
If you love someone in the middle of it, you are not crazy for feeling exhausted and angry and heartbroken all at once. There are resources. Al-Anon for families. AA for those seeking sobriety. Support groups that understand what you’re walking through. And if you have a younger person in your life struggling with vaping or addiction, start here:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/quit-vaping/id1479615245
Sometimes healing starts with a meeting. Sometimes it starts with an app. Pain can destroy. Or it can build.
This week, I’m choosing to acknowledge it. And yes, I am a proud mom.