True Beauty

- Cary Hopkins Eyles

I work with women, moms, who are fighting their substance abuse. They are doing just that fighting - fighting to not drink, to not pick up, to not use. They are also fighting for some level of normalcy, to feel okay about themselves, to be good moms, friends, partners, where they have often failed.

There is also a daycare at our treatment facility so that the mothers can bond with their children - even if they do not have custody of them any longer. Last Friday we had a party to celebrate "back to school" and to encourage the children who were with us all summer.

It was amazing.

There was food, music, prizes and an awful lot of happy women. These are women who are tired, often depressed… they have been through it, man, all of it. I often see them angry or sad, craving, relapsing, being defensive, having great need. Yet on this day they were dancing, being moms and friends, and laughing with such great joy.

On that day all I saw in those faces - of all colors, sizes, and backgrounds - was immense beauty and true human spirit.

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Keep looking for that loving compassion - wherever you can find it.

P.S. They got a great kick out of seeing their Counselor (who they see as rather quiet and perhaps reserved) dancing - calls of "Go Cary, go Cary" were to be heard in the halls.