Living in the Wake of Addiction: Lessons for Courageous Caregiving, provides professionals and the caregivers of people with addiction disorders valuable navigation techniques through the murky waters of codependency. The Lessons in this book offer reinforcing guidance through a compassionate, honest journey that goes well beyond a mother's loss of her son to heroin. Her personal experience becomes compelling, weighed against her once naivete about addiction, and the knowledge she shares now about the current medical understanding of this chronic brain disease. The timeliness of this publication is important for it is imperative now, more than ever, to move the disease of addiction from the shadows of shame and stigma into the light of awareness, understanding and acceptance. Gloria's message is clear: "People who suffer from substance use disorders deserve the same medical treatment and compassion as anyone suffering from a chronic illness. Lives depend on it."