June—GONE. That means it’s time to reintroduce you to some of the stories and podcasts you might have missed while waiting for the summer solstice to start. Hope you enjoyed that extra-long day, because from now on it’s gonna get darker and darker.

But don’t let your darkness go to waste—share it with TSB, and you’ll be providing a great service to your fellow humans everywhere. We need your wisdom, your valor, your grimness, and guts—we want all of it for next week’s July Check-Ins.

Here’s a recent one for inspiration: 

It’s almost June, and that means my mother is coming to visit soon. The amount of energy required to interact with her is more than I have, and I don’t know how to tell her that. I’ve been thinking I should tell her about my arrest so that maybe she can grasp the heaviness of the situation. 

In March I was at Wal-Mart during a particular period of feeling invisible at home with my emotionally neglectful husband. Although I knew the reality that I was indeed not invisible, I decided to test the theory because for the last couple of years I’d floated in and out of the grocery store like a ghost, positive no one noticed me. Turns out I was noticed as I dropped cookies in my purse. Everything after that is a blur; I kept my face unreadable, giving them nothing. After they asked me if I was in the drug trade, I snorted a laugh incredulously. They gave up and went through the motions of taking me to the sheriff’s department. I was out within the hour to return to my life. 

My husband arrived home from work and, without a word, tumbled onto the couch. I took a Klonopin, the one thing that dulls the sharp edges of being ignored, and continued with my housework. It’s a constant pull and tug of using and stopping (or saying I’m going to stop), but with my husband as a non-present parent, I am indeed operating as a single mom, and for that I need armor in the form of substances. Anything I can get my hands on, from over-the-counter Benzedrex to my prescription for Tramadol for rheumatoid arthritis, which I was diagnosed with last year. For the last 20 years, I’ve been under the influence, functional but altered, so I don’t know any other way to be now in 2026.

Got it? You’re up. 250-300 words. Email to: [email protected]

SUBJECT: JULY CHECK-IN

It will be published on Tuesday, July 7.

Anyone who contributes gets a FREE month of TSB’s Sunday edition. If you didn’t get hooked up last month, please let us know, and we’ll get you situated. (We can also hook you up if you can’t afford a TSB subscription right now.) 

Okay, thanks again for your support of TSB. —AJD

If you don't feel comfortable calling yourself an “alcoholic,” that’s fine. If you have issues with sex, food, drugs, codependency, love, loneliness, and/or depression, come on in. Newcomers are especially welcome.

Format: crosstalk, topic meeting

We’re there for an hour, sometimes more. We'd love to have you.

Meeting ID: 874 2568 6609
Password To ZOOM: nickfoles

Need more info?: [email protected]