Learning how to manage our expectations during the holiday season means we will come to accept that things may not always be going our way.

Thanksgiving is upon us. Time to plan the menu and prepare our favorite recipes. We look forward to a day of good food, parades, games, and great company. It is a day for gratitude, for enjoying cherished traditions, and making precious memories. At least it is in Hallmark movies. But, for many people, this day is challenging, even painful.

I have never been comfortable with the idea of letting go of my children for any reason; addiction is no exception. Even though they are adults and making grown-up decisions for their lives, the advice to let them go and allow them to hit their rock bottom shakes me to the core. Ask any mother the hardest decision they've had to make regarding their struggling child. They will most often say it was the "letting go". The same holds true for wives, sisters, and grandmothers. It

“So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him;...