Sorry!

I didn't mean to scare you guys with the title to the last post! Charlie is doing FANTASTIC. He is done with detox and back home under the care of an addiction specialist for at least one year. This is the best addiction specialist in the country. The doctor is developing a long term plan for him to keep him straight and sober. He is very strong and determined to stay clean,

Thank you all so much for your prayers and for caring enough to ask!


-Posted from Elena's iPad

Real Life Sucks!

I am anxious to share the rest of the Keys 4 Art Retreat with you but, unfortunately, I do have to work!!! Be back!


-Posted from Elena's iPad

HERE WE GO!!

My sweet friend Lil was the first to arrive - from the North Pole!! Well, okay, from Canada - but ALMOST the North Pole!  She arrived on Friday.

Sunday at midnight Sarah arrived from Australia!!! Can you believe that???  Her first trip to the United States too.  I was so flattered she wanted to come to Key Largo to spend a few days with us!

This is Lil and Sarah when we picked Sarah up at the airport:

Sarah was EXUBERANT to be here and YES that is a smile on Lil's face!!!  LOL!  Sarah is so unbelievably sweet.  She is funny and happy and I am so glad to have spent time with her!

The following day - Monday - Sarah, Lil and I went to the airport to pick up Gina and Marita who came from Portland.  They are the two most amazing women!  Marita is a sweetie and Gina is absolutely hilarious.

Okay, so now it is Tuesday and the rest of tribe arrives!  Woo HOO!!!  We divide ourselves up - my daughter-in-law and I - and pick up from Miami International and Ft. Lauderdale International and voila!  They are all here!

This beautiful lady is Teri Flemal.  She is a "newbie" to our group and a joy!!  The first night I think she really was debating whether or not to take a taxi to the airport and fly back to New York!!! But she stuck with us and I am so glad she did!

Everyone made gifts for each other and gave them out as soon as they got to my house!

Daisy made me this WONDERFUL shadow box!  I had never met Daisy personally and fell in love with her instantly!  She is so talented - everything she did was gorgeous.

Gotta tell you that THIS was the hit of the retreat!!  Teri and Eileen sent me this coffee pot as a gift a few days before the retreat.  I am not sure if it was for them or me but I got to keep it so it's all good!

Val brought charm necklaces for everyone.  She spent Saturday teaching us to make these fun charms.  I don't wear necklaces so I used my charms for my journals and my printer's tray and they look spectacular!

The wonderfully talented Julie Nutting brought me one of her original works!!  If you have the chance to take a class with her - don't miss it!  She taught us how to do these fabulous glamour girls on Wednesday (we are not there yet!!!).

Our friend Sox was not able to join us.  She sent this WONDERFUL painting telling us how she would "love to be a fly on the wall" but since she wasn't - she sent the next best thing!  How cool is this?

Everyone brought presents for everyone else!  I will post them a little at time as they are all wonderful but too many for this one post!

I really wanted everyone to relax and just get ready for our wonderful teachers so after the gift exchange we had dinner and karaoke.  Jen made absolutely wonderful mango mojitos which everyone drank maybe a little too much of!  These are some of the pictures from Tuesday night (how FUN was this????):

Tracy, me and Ingrid Dijkers in my studio.  Ingrid is so unbelievably amazing!!  If you ever have a chance to take a class with her - don't miss out!

I love Eileen.  I am so grateful to have met her and to call her my friend!  Her and her New York accent just make my day!

Jen was the bartender and made WONDERFUL mango mojitos with fresh mangos.  She lives in California and her and Julie had not slept since the day before!

Julie Nutting and Ingrid Dijkers.  These ladies are so wonderful!  The first night I think we almost scared them away!

Of course we really are serious people in our real lives!!!

Karaoke fun!  

My soul sister Tracy and I.   I love this girl to pieces!  She is like the sister I never had.  She came all the way from Washington State!

And that ended day one - Tuesday.  Stay tuned for the rest of KEYS 4 ART 2011.

HI EVERYONE!

Yes, I have read your emails!  I know everyone wants to see pictures and hear about the retreat.  I am so tired I can't even BREATH!  Promise to write all about it in the next few days!

Charlie is doing great and life is good right now!!!

WOW!!

We just finished our retreat with dinner and dancing at a local restaurant.  What a wonderful week this has been!  I will tell you guys all about it tomorrow but I just had to write a note to let you know that this has been the best 5 days I have had in a very long time!

Tomorrow all these wonderful ladies fly home.  Tracy left today and Lil and Sarah will stay for a couple of days more but Keys 4 Art 2011 was a total success.

Next?   Keys 4 Art 2012!

Remember How You Felt

On Christmas Eve when you were a kid? The excitement and anticipation of waking up the next day to gifts and fun? That is the way I feel tonight! LOL!

First I picked up Lillian (Mederak) who came from Canada for our retreat. Last night Sarah (Walker) arrived from Australia. This afternoon I picked up Gina (Goodling) and Marita (Kovalik).

Tomorrow? Tracy (Kaufman)from Washington state; Eileen (Bellomo) and Teri (Flemal) from New York; Jennifer (Rogers-Daniels) and Julie Nutting (yes, THAT Julie Nutting) from California; Valerie (Brincheck) and Ingrid Dijkers (yes, THAT Ingrid Dijkers) from Michigan; Daisy (Cooper) from Florida; and Sue (Young) from Ohio.

Can't wait! Tomorrow everyone needs to catch up, unpack and relax. We are having dinner catered at the house and will have a wonderful musician who will bring 3 hours of Karaoke for us! I figure after a few mojitos I can be Celine Dion! Or maybe Reba?! I am so looking forward to this event! Will keep you posted!

I am definitely in the mood to celebrate! Charlie is doing so good. He sounds happy and relaxed and like my son again. Today he told me he had forgotten how good it felt to be sober. God is working miracles in my child. All your prayers are heard and you all have my undying gratitude for caring about this man-child who is my life.




-Posted from Elena's iPad

CHARLIE - DAY 14

I spoke to my Charlie last night and he sounds WONDERFUL!  He sounds like the son I thought was lost to me.  It brings tears to my eyes just to even write this.  He was not paranoid - not "strung out" not "out of it" - he was just Charlie.

Charlie went to the Cordon Bleu to be a chef and he loves to cook.  He has taken over the cooking duties at the residence for everyone and is happier than I have heard him in a long time.

He is a little homesick I think but still DETERMINED to beat this.  Can you believe it????  I have been struggling against this addiction for FIFTEEN YEARS.  Do I dare to hope that this will at least be the beginning of a new life for him?  I am so scared to get my hopes up and then....  No!  I will not even think that way.  For the first time HE wants to be clean.  HE wants to stop.

Prayers... oh the power of prayers!  With so many wonderful people praying for him... people who don't know him... who don't know ME!  God is listening... He is working on my son...
He will return him to me!

So many of you are following Charlie's progress... so many of you hoping and praying for your own babies...

To see my son smile at me with clear eyes... to hear his voice strong and resonant; not weak or strung out.  To not have to "concentrate" on what he is saying or how he is saying it in order to figure out what he's on...  To go to bed at night NOT expecting the phone to ring with awful news...

To not have to feel defensive with your own family.... to not feel that you have to excuse, justify or explain; because YOU know what your child is and what he/she does... but you sure as hell don't want anyone else pointing it out.  Are we enablers by doing this?   Are we hurting them by wanting to protect them?  I don't know.  I don't have the answers.

I am sure I have made mistakes in handling Charlie; I am sure there are tons of things I could have done differently.  But where the hell do you get an instruction manual on dealing with a child who is a drug addict?  Where do you go to learn to do things "the right way"?  Well, I HAVE done things the "right way".  I have loved and will always love my son unconditionally.  That's the only way I know how to.

Hold on to your children even when they push you away.  Don't let anyone tell you that "tough love" means letting them crash and burn while you step to the side and do nothing.

That's not "tough love" - that is giving up.