What a thoughtful essay, thank you Mac! I come from a lineage of alcohol addiction and addiction to denial and delusion. I am glad you and your siblings are healing yours so it ends. My siblings are not all ready for this work.
Thank you for sharing that. I, too, had a father that was absent right in my face when sober, but the loving esthetic teddy bear of a man when drinking.....unless you were Mom or me. I'm going to follow your example of leadership to address this.
Nice picture of you and the old man in elk camp! My minds eye has so many of those photos locked away in my heart. I think that this summer I'm going to go back up to the old campsite for the first time in many a year. I don't know what I'm looking for, but I will definitely know when I find it. I went there about 20 years ago. I hiked up to the top of a peak that we had never quite reached together. I left a single can of beer for him there. I think I may just go and see if it's still there.
I look forward to hearing about your hike and visiting the old campsite if you decide to right about it. There's a power that resides in these traditions and the memories of them.
This is such a beautiful, poignant account of intergenerational trauma and healing. As an EMDR therapist myself, I've seen this work profoundly change lives in exactly the ways you describe, helping us unfold the layers of what lies behind present moment patterns and excavate them at their roots. Thanks for your openness. I love how you have avoided both shame and blame in your telling of the story.
Thanks for reading! EMDR was a game-changer for me. I still think about it in awe -> it amazes me still how all those memories came up so clearly after a couple of sessions and how helpful pinpointing those memories has been to my healing and also the healing of the relationship with my father.
Thanks Jeanie for reading and for the kind words! It was an emotional piece. I’m planning on reading it soon to share. So proud of my Dad and our family. We’ve grown a lot over the years together.
Such a powerfully told, beautiful story, Mac. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Dana for the opportunity to share this story that is near and dear to me!
What a thoughtful essay, thank you Mac! I come from a lineage of alcohol addiction and addiction to denial and delusion. I am glad you and your siblings are healing yours so it ends. My siblings are not all ready for this work.
I appreciate you reading and the kind words! I pray that your siblings and family can find healing, it is important and powerful!
Thanks Mac. Great story that I share some elements of with my father. EMDR has been useful to me as well. Peace. 🙏
Peace be with you Dee. Happy to hear you found healing and that EMDR was beneficial!
Brilliant piece, Mac. Proud of you, mate.
Thanks Adam, means a lot. We have the power to chart a new course for our family tree. The power is within us.
Courageous. Thank you.
Thanks for reading John!
So true there are many different addictions we cling to but it's the inside trauma we need to recognise and heal..
A lovely story I resonate with some of it, brought a wee lump to my throat .
Thanks for reading Liz! It was surreal when I started to put the pieces together in therapy of where my addiction rooted itself.
Thank you for sharing that. I, too, had a father that was absent right in my face when sober, but the loving esthetic teddy bear of a man when drinking.....unless you were Mom or me. I'm going to follow your example of leadership to address this.
Nice picture of you and the old man in elk camp! My minds eye has so many of those photos locked away in my heart. I think that this summer I'm going to go back up to the old campsite for the first time in many a year. I don't know what I'm looking for, but I will definitely know when I find it. I went there about 20 years ago. I hiked up to the top of a peak that we had never quite reached together. I left a single can of beer for him there. I think I may just go and see if it's still there.
I look forward to hearing about your hike and visiting the old campsite if you decide to right about it. There's a power that resides in these traditions and the memories of them.
Thanks for reading, God Speed!
This is such a beautiful, poignant account of intergenerational trauma and healing. As an EMDR therapist myself, I've seen this work profoundly change lives in exactly the ways you describe, helping us unfold the layers of what lies behind present moment patterns and excavate them at their roots. Thanks for your openness. I love how you have avoided both shame and blame in your telling of the story.
Thanks for reading! EMDR was a game-changer for me. I still think about it in awe -> it amazes me still how all those memories came up so clearly after a couple of sessions and how helpful pinpointing those memories has been to my healing and also the healing of the relationship with my father.
Thank you for reading!
Yes, I feel the same, EMDR is a game-changer!
I couldn't love this piece more, Mac. Thank you for sharing your heart and generational healing with us.
"I’ve come to understand that healing goes beyond overcoming personal addictions, it’s about breaking the generational cycle of trauma." Yesssss!
Thanks Jeanie for reading and for the kind words! It was an emotional piece. I’m planning on reading it soon to share. So proud of my Dad and our family. We’ve grown a lot over the years together.