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If You Love Me
If You Love Me: A Mother's Journey Through Her Daughter's Opioid Addiction | Maureen Cavanagh
4 posts | 6 read | 12 to read
Maureen Cavanagh’s gripping memoir If You Love Me is the story of a mother who suddenly finds herself on the frontlines of the opioid epidemic as her daughter battles—and ultimately reckons with—substance use disorder. Fast-paced and heartwarming, devastating and redemptive, Maureen’s incredible odyssey into the opioid crisis—first as a parent, then as an advocate—is ultimately a deeply moving mother-daughter story. When Maureen and her ex-husband Mike see their daughter Katie’s needle track marks for the first time, it is a complete shock. But, slowly, the drug use explains everything—Katie’s constant exhaustion, erratic moods, and all those spoons that have gone missing from the house. Once Mike and Maureen get Katie into detox, Maureen goes to sleep that night hoping that in 48 hours she’ll have her daughter back. It’s not that simple. Like the millions of parents and relatives all over the country—some of whom she has helped through her nonprofit organization—Maureen learns that recovery is neither straightforward nor brief. She fights to save Katie’s life, breaking down doors on the seedy side of town with Mike, kidnapping Katie outside a convenience store, and battling the taboo around substance use disorder in her picturesque New England town. Maureen is launched into the shadowy world of overcrowded, for-profit rehabilitation centers that often prey on worried parents. As Katie runs away from one program after another, never outrunning her pain, Maureen realizes that even while she becomes an expert on getting countless men and women into detox and treatment centers, she remains powerless to save her own daughter. Maureen's unforgettable story brings the opioid crisis out of the shadows and into the house next door.
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blurb
Eggs
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Why she had to go, I don't know
She wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday🎶

Maureen wishes she could turn the clock back to #yesterday, before her teen daughter became strung out on opioids.

#beatlemaynia @Eggs

69 likes1 stack add
review
mrozzz
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Pickpick

This was a touching firsthand account of a mother fighting for her daughter‘s survival & coming close to losing her own well-being in the process. Maureen has done so much good for so many other young adults (and their parents) struggling to recover from addiction. She made it clear how traumatic it is for all parties involved as she & Katie vacillated between a close relationship and a strained one as Katie's drug use also stops/starts.

Caterina What good timing for you to post about this - I just finished attending a two day conference on the opioid crisis and how to form coalitions to fight it. Thank you for your review! I'll definitely have to read this. 6y
mrozzz Yay! @Caterina I hope you like it too. 6y
82 likes4 stack adds2 comments
review
tholmz
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Pickpick

Addiction is close to me and Maureen detailed it elegantly and with so much strength. Heartbreaking but realistic and above all else, hopeful.

Reggie You always have such interesting books. 6y
tholmz @Reggie oh thanks! I try to read a wide variety. 6y
7 likes2 stack adds2 comments
review
Bookalong
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Pickpick

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
For this heartbreaking but powerful book. This was a very eye opening read about a mother and daughter and substance abuse and just how far a mothers love can reach.
#bookreview #bookworm #memoir #bookblogger