Hello, my name is Joyce De Ridder and I’m inviting you to let your mind wander to your own experiences as I share mine. A long time ago I learned that what is most personal is most universal.
Even though what I’ve done, where I have been, and who shaped my life is different from your experience, I believe we share more common ground than you or I might imagine.
By way of a brief introduction, I’ll tell you that I lived my beginning and now live my ending years in Michigan and the in-between years in Texas, Virginia, and Slovakia. I love learning and have studied and/or taught in universities in every place I’ve lived. My dad shared the love of learning with me; he graduated from high school the year I got my Ph.D.
For most of the last thirty-four years, I have spent my time sharing life with people trapped in addictions who are finding freedom and building new lives. It began with helping a friend with an addiction to alcohol get treatment. For both of us, our Christian faith defined us and we chose to get formal training in drug and alcohol education and rehabilitation counseling. That was the beginning of a ministry together that lasted until her death on June 2, 2022.
If you are older, as I am – I’m in my eighth decade – you probably spend some time trying to make sense of your own life. If you’re alone, as I am now, maybe you’ll share my perception that we can have a conversation with one another without being together. But regardless of your age or life circumstances, please join me. If in your heart and mind you can relate to what I write and you want to meet again, I invite you to sign up for my blog. That way you will get a note from me by email telling you when I’ve added something new.