Introducing a Blog Series on Helping a Friend through Difficult Issues

Charlene, my old-lady Ojibwe friend, changed my life.

I also changed hers.

Through Charlene, I grew familiar with issues I had never faced before in my small, sheltered world. In trying to help her, I learned from her.

In a series of blog posts over the next several weeks, I want to explore, through the lens of friendship, several issues I care about deeply because of Charlene. I will share insights I’ve gained from my own experience along with insights gleaned from others.

Starting this Thursday and posted over the next four weeks, I will talk about the following:

Week 1: Helping a Friend Overcome Addiction

I hated Charlene’s smoking addiction because I knew it was killing her. She tried to stop, but smoking proved to be a bigger beast than both of us. In this post, I discuss how to help a friend overcome addiction and name a few important tips from some of my own friends as well as from experts.

Week 2: Loving Our Aging Friends Well

As I observed Charlene in her sickness and frailty, I understood for the first time how vulnerable a person becomes in old age. In this post, I share insights from a caretaker along with insights from an older person. How can a younger person be a true friend to someone facing the difficulties of old age?

Week 3: Is Homosexuality an Identity?

Charlene identified as homosexual, and I began to ask questions I had never asked before. Is homosexuality wrong? Is a homosexual born or made? For the first time, I questioned my own sexuality. In this post, I share some of my experience along with insights gained from others.

Week 4: Learning from Those We Are Trying to Help

We cannot help others until we are willing to learn from them. This post addresses the importance of allowing those we want to help to also teach us.

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Turtle Heart, the story of my friendship with Charlene, is coming out this spring. Stay tuned to this blog for launch day details or subscribe to my newsletter to get them in your inbox. To view my past books, visit my Books page.