Summary: "I lifted the glass to my mouth, and slowly let the liquor slide over my tongue. My head was full of conflict. I knew right from wrong, but I told myself it would only be this one time and no one would ever know. My mom and dad, God and the church, my friends: I wondered what they would say. My mouth stung and my throat burned, but, as the alcohol filled my belly, I was overcome with a sense of relief. It was wonderful. It was a combination of pain and pleasure that I had never before experienced. All the fears in my head dulled as the warmth in my stomach grew. I felt incredible. Nothing was ever the same after that night." From The Lost Years: Surviving a Mother and Daughter's Worst Nightmare by Kristina Wandzilak and Constance Curry. Imagine becoming an alcoholic at age 13 and losing your teen years and beyond to substance abuse, homelessness, and worse. Then imagine the havoc that life wreaks upon your family. This week, we talk with a mother and daughter who lived through that nightmare and found strength and redemption on the other side. Kristina Wandzilak has worked in the chemical dependency field since 1994 as a counselor and interventionist. In 1998, she opened the doors of Full Circle Intervention with the vision of bringing respectful intervention to families in need. She is an international speaker and well-known expert on drug addiction and intervention. Kristina's mother, Constance Curry, is a businesswoman and educational speaker on the subject of addiction and family recovery. She started the first women's golf tournament to raise money for the children's center at the Family Service Agency. She has been in co-dependency recovery for many years, studying and trying to understand the disorder that took over her life and the lives of those she loves. The Lost Years is a brave story about personal disaster, recovery, forgiveness, and redemption. Highly recommended by The Writing Show. Please join us for this moving interview, in which Connie and Kristina discuss: * What happened to them * What went wrong in their lives that led to these things happening * How they decided to write the book at all, and how they came to write it together * How they sparked their memories * How their editor helped them pare down their manuscript and write a tight, focused story * How the people they mention feel about being in the book * How they feel about baring these difficult, private facts about their lives * What they wish had made it into the book * What they've learned from writing and promoting the book.
