The Ambulance Chaser
Allow me to introduce you to Jason Feldman. He has a reputation as a lawyer clients can trust—Jason also has a side hustle as a courier for an Uber-like service, WARP, but instead of picking up passengers, he delivers cocaine to a discreet, upscale clientele, which helps support his own drug habit and pay for his […]
The Day My Father Saved My Life
Homeless on Heroin to Law Student
It’s an excellent time for an uplifting story of recovery, resilience, and redemption. Domenick is a third-year law student at Seton Hall. “I used to wake up every day at 3 am, cold, angry, and sweaty. Cold because my body was withdrawing due to the lack of opiates I had ingested in the previous hours. […]
Reflections At Thirteen Years Sober
On April 8th I celebrated my abstinence-based, thirteen years in long term recovery from alcohol, cocaine, and bulimia (Yes, males develop eating disorders). I reflect with mixed feelings as it also falls on what would be the ninety-fourth birthday of my late father whose passing eighteen months ago is still fairly raw and painful. Of […]
Fifteen Years Ago, I Wanted To Die
It’s a cool and overcast February afternoon as I turn my car into the parking lot of Green Oaks Hospital. Fifteen years ago, my brothers executed the same turn with me, an unwilling passenger in the back seat. Today is a happy occasion. I am sitting for an interview about mental health and my journey […]
Embracing The Cusp Of Senior Sober
In less than a year, I turn sixty-years old. Not quite senior, but certainly approaching the cusp. I have reflected on words my father spoke often to my brothers and me growing up in Pittsburgh. “Today is the youngest you will ever be, live like it.” This was a mindset that escaped me when I […]
Wait Until You Get My Bill
We allowed our father to pass with as much dignity as is possible under the relentless assault of advancing dementia. There was no debate over whether to stop the clock and restore what was possible. He would be allowed to complete his journey on his terms. We had no choice but to come to grips […]
Xanax, Blow & A TRO
Last night is a blur. The bars, the booze, the blow. No memory of last-call or the journey home. My fingers feel swollen and clunky as I try to open the cellophane bag on the nightstand, ultimately tearing it, sending Xanax bars flying across the bed. I scoop one off of the down comforter like […]
Echos Of Trauma
It sometimes seems like my entire life is processing either the direct or secondary trauma of my past. Traumatic echoes of events that, for the most part, years and decades past, seem to invade every sense, as well as my dreams. The very direct trauma of bullies ripping off my pants down to my Fruit-Of […]
Eating Disorders Took My Daughter And Changed My View Of Lawyer Wellness
I first met Steven Dunn through my eating disorder advocacy. I was actively bulimic for over two decades and have been in recovery for just over twelve years. Steven had not long before, lost his daughter Morgan to anorexia nervosa. We talk often about advocacy issues and support each other in our work to raise […]
