Stay Close: A Mother's Story of Her Son's Addiction

A must read for all parents

I loved the book! I am the mother of a recovering addict and could identify with many of the feelings and responses that Libby had. Her writing style was superb and professional. I found myself on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. The book will be meaningful to all parents of addicts. A parent with a child in the early stages of addiction will glean information that could help them seek rehabilitation much sooner. "Stay Close" could easily be a lifesaving book! Thanks, Libby, for your bravery and faith!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

A must read for families in crisis

Hearing about a family torn apart by drug abuse is not unusual, but what is unusual is how this family's story is told. This is a candid revalation of a family in crisis told from the perspective of the mother, her addicted son, and his other sibling. Each has a dinstinct perspective and tone of voice. This is a heroic story of how courage and persistence in love and support can slowly bring a family to healing. The struggle is not short, and the mistakes are admitted freely on all sides. This is a story for anyone who feels helpless in their struggle and wants to know what their loved one in need is feeling.
For me this story is more personal. I was one of the students at the school where Dr Libby Cataldi served as the head for 21 years. I knew her as a supportive advocate for all of us both in our education and our professional careers. I was one of the ones she was taking care of and who needed her. But my classmates and I had no idea of the personal struggle that was going on underneath all her smiles of encouragement. This book made me weep for her and for her family. I knew both boys as the extraordinary students and gentlemen they were as children. I remember thinking of the wonderful futures that I thought lay ahead for them with the benefit of their mother's support and love. How lucky I thought they were to have her. What I didn't know was how really lucky they would all be to have each other.
Read this book and think about how you can Stay Close in crisis, how you can manage through the fog of mistakes, and see through to a clear understanding of what makes family family.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A story about the pain of addiction and the redemptive power of a family's love.

Stay Close is a brave and touching story of a mother's fight and painful journey to save her son from drug addiction. Libby Cataldi 's voice as a mother and educator is beautifully sincere, shining a light on what many families today face and are often too ashamed to speak about.

Early in the book Cataldi describes her two beloved sons through memories of a childhood filled with playful laughter, leaving a powerful and moving snapshot of the visceral love that they have for one another. As a reader, this image is painfully shattered as Jeff, the eldest son, falls to drugs throughout the course of his adolescence and into adulthood.

When speaking about addiction, I've often heard people say "I don't get it. Why can't they just stop?" People often don't stop to think that addicts are in just as much pain as those that love them. The self loathing they must feel because they can't stop, no matter how much they try, is unbearable, I'm sure. I didn't fully understand this before reading Stay Close. Between the heart-wrenching stories retold by his mother and brother, you will find that even in the midst of a terrible drug addiction, the love for his family and essence of Jeff was always there. Maybe he was clouded at times, but the Jeff that Cataldi describes early on always remained. Jeff's personal account, inserted periodically throughout the book, also provides insight to a life of friendships, music, trouble and drugs. His reflections are like finding the missing pieces of a puzzle and that's what makes this book so unique and captivating.

Because the mother-child bond is unlike any other, mothers will be touched by this story on a different and deeper level. Cataldi touches on relationships, the struggles of being a professional, working mother and all that that entails, and the importance of working closely with loved ones to support and discipline your children - as a team and under a united front. However, there is something in this story for everyone, whether you're a spouse, sibling, friend, or addict.

Stay Close will leave you with a greater understanding of addicts and respect for the entire recovery process. Addiction is extremely hard on those that love them, but also on the addicts themselves. The idea of "stagli vicino" or "stay close," that powerful Italian phrase that forever changed the life of this family, is different from what we hear and are told to do when dealing with addiction. We've all heard about "tough love" and the importance of cutting addicts off - not only financially, but emotionally as well. This story speaks of another way. It speaks of love and emotional support, even when it is toughest to give.

Stay Close is not only about a mother's painful experience with her son's addiction. It's a story about the redemptive power of a family's love for one another and the importance of never giving up hope.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

ALL PARENTS SHOULD READ THIS BOOK

AS A PARENT OF A LITTLE BOY, THIS BOOK MAKES ME FEEL THE PAIN AND HOPELESSNESS OF THE AUTHOR. SHE DOES A WONDERFUL JOB EXPRESSING THE HELL THAT HER FAMILY LIVED IN AS THEY WATCHED THEIR LOVED ONE LOSE HIS SOUL TO DRUGS.
THE BOOK IS WRITTEN WELL AND IS EASY TO READ.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Stay Close

"Stay Close" is a MUST read. I couldn't put the book down. Addiction isn't just a personal thing. The journey of the addict is a journey taken, (willingly or not), by the entire family. Libby Cataldi was masterful in exposing the tentacles of addiction and their devastating effect upon family and friends alike. But beyond this, she exposed herself. Her hopes, her fears her torments and her joys are embedded upon the pages of "Stay Close". It was not until Libby had the courage and conviction to buck the "conventional" addiction advice that glimmers of hope emerged. This book invoked tears of sadness and tears of joy. Don't miss out. Read this inspirational book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Addiction...A Lesson in Love.

Stay Close. More than a title. This books cuts to the meaning of Love. Addiction is a mystery and it comes in many forms. "Stay Close" takes the reader through an addicts life through the eyes of his Mother. This book is candid, provoking and filled with reality. Libby brings addiction out of the closet of shame and guilt, and into the forefront of understanding and even love. It is difficult to love an addict, and more difficult for an addict to love themselves. This book is guiding light not only for families effected by addiction but anyone with children. The phrase, "Love them through it." is only the beginning...

I'd like to thank Libby Cataldi for honoring and putting into words the deep love a Mother has for her children. It is not a weakness but a strength.

I would recommend this book to adults and teens; an invaluable lesson is written between every line.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Tigerfeather

*Stalks up behind a fat vole and aims then she leaps onto the vole and kills it with one swift bite*"Mmmm,"she heard her daughter Mintypaw say,"This will taste really good."
"Yes.I am sure it will,"she mewed.

Fallenstar

Hunting Grounds

War

A huge tabby she cat stalks a mouse. She stills and the mouse goes towards her. When it is in front of her face she erupts int a huge flurry of limbs. The dust xlears and she is seen likcing her paw off of blood while the mouse lies dead. She digs a small grave next to the mouse and stalks off to go get more prey.

Grat book

This is a great book, especially for us parents that are currently living this nightmare with our own children. So very hurtful to go through this with our children thank you for sharing yout story. Lori

Very Good Book- a must read!

Stay Close is a memoir about one mothers struggle with her son's drug addiction and the way she learns not to cure him but to always stay close and to never give up hope. Libby Cataldi is the mother of Jeff Cataldi a man who struggled with a drug addiction for more than 10 years. Libby Cataldi learns not to push her son away but to hold him close during the times that he needs her most (his drug addiction years). This book has an amazing message about how drug addiction is a dieses and not something to be taken lightly. It also shows that when a person has a drug addiction they are the ones who must decide to get help they cannot be forced into sobriety. Libby is a perfect example of someone who stayed close to her son during his drug addiction years and never gave up hope on him getting sober. I really liked this book I think that it had an amazing message and was well written. It is a book that will make you laugh, and cry all on the same page. You really feel as if Jeff could be your own son and you feel Libby's pain. What I did not like about this book is that it seemed that everything that was happening in Libby's life kept repeating itself and it actually got boring half way through it. Someone should read this because it really opens your eyes about how drug addiction is a dieses and can't be cured no matter how many times someone gets "sober" the dieses still runs through their veins and it is very easy to relapse. I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars it was very moving and would recommend it to everyone.

Excellent Book!

A very good, readable study of a mother's journey through her son's addiction. Provides in-depth, real-life examples of the family and the enabler's involvement in the family disease of addiction. Treatment implications, as well as candid, personal accounts are given...

A perfect description of a Mother's heart through the pain of addiction

Just finished this book. It was well written and very touching. Libby describes how a mother's heart breaks with all of the painful decisions that a drug addicted child makes. You can relate to all of her feelings, especially if you have walked in her shoes as I have. I highly recommend this book to all family members who are struggling through addiction as this is a disease that affects ALL family members. She also describes the different attitudes of each of the family members as they relate to the addict. I also recommend Beautiful Boy by Nic Sheff another warm but heartbreaking account of addiction.

Honesty and Hope

If you have had someone close to you suffer from addiction, you will have many deja vu moments while reading Libby''s story. It is an honest account of her feelings, as well as her son's recollection of his, and it is beautifully written. I've purchased copies and given them to friends with children who are currently struggling. Even though everyone has a different story, there is a common thread that runs through each one and it is recognizable in Libby's book. It lets parents know that they are not alone in their experience and gives them hope.

Stay Close is Powerful, Hopeful, Heart-Breaking, and Beautifully Written

"Powerful" - that's the first word many people use to describe Libby Cataldi's Stay Close: a mother's story of her son's addiction. I know because I have recommended this book to several family members and friends, and it is interesting how many people use the same word, "powerful," to describe this book. Beyond that, it is truthful, heart-breaking, hopeful, and beautifully written. The title sums it up brilliantly: "Stay Close" is an Italian aphorism which reminds us exactly what we need to do - no more, no less - when a loved one reaches out to us in time of need. This is "a mother's story," and there are elements of this story which resonate for every parent, regardless of the details of our circumstances. Honest writing inevitably is universal. It is a story of her "son's addiction," and the addiction is insidious and potentially deadly; it is a parent's nightmare. Even though Jeff's addiction seems far beyond the addictions that most of us see around us, we are all acquainted with addictions, whether they involve food, work, cigarettes, sex, alcohol, video games, or something else.

What makes this book a great read is its truthfulness and its hope. Like the rest of us, Libby, Jeff, Jeremy, and Tim are works in progress. Libby tells her story, with supporting passages from Jeff and Jeremy, in such a way that your heart breaks for her family and at the same time, you can imagine yourself standing in her shoes and wondering "what would I have done?" For whatever mistakes she might have made along the way, Libby "stayed close" and Jeff has endured. They are not quitters, and their story inspires me with hope for all of us.

*****

P.S. I invited Libby Cataldi to visit the charter school in North Carolina where I serve as Principal. She spoke to our seniors, our faculty, and our parents. Her message touched the hearts of all three groups. Many people in America today are touched by addictions, especially drug addictions. Libby started a dialogue in our school which continues. We all must "stay close" and make wise decisions in these matters. It's not easy, but Libby reminds us that it is possible.

A must read

Stay Close is a must read for anyone who has ever known and loved an addict. It is raw and honest, rare in that it gives three different perspectives, mother, son, and brother. Brilliantly written, a page turner from beginning to end. You will find yourself in Libby Cataldi's words and you will feel hope. I did and I am forever grateful to her and her son's for being so brave to take addiction out of the shadows and to tell their story in the hopes of helping others. This book was invaluable in helping my mother and I deal with my brothers addiction. Stay Close helped us to learn to love him, to stay close to him, without enabling him. A million thanks.

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