web1_Wilkes-Barre-City-Police.jpg

Coworkers at Wilkes-Barre store allegedly ran scam at cash registers, pocketing money

web1_eagles-won.jpg

Eagles’ Ryan Mathews out for season with neck injury

<p>Carly K. is looking forward to Christmas, but that hasn&#8217;t always been the case.</p><p>Last Christmas she was decking the halls and wrapping presents in brightly colored paper, but she had a secret that kept her from truly enjoying the holiday.</p><p>&#8220;Last year it seemed like it was all about me,&#8221; said Carly, 26, who asked that her last name not be published. &#8220;My family was worried about whether I was getting high and I was leaving events early to get high.&#8221;</p><p>Carly, like many of the 23.6 million American adults who are trying to overcome an addiction to drugs or alcohol, according to <a href="http://www.drugfree.org" target="_blank">www.drugfree.org</a>, will celebrate Christmas aware of the temptations that might threaten her sobriety.</p><p><strong>A sober presence</strong></p><p>In February, after coming clean with family and friends about her addiction to marijuana and barbiturates, Carly entered and completed in-patient treatment at Clearbrook Manor in Laurel Run and then went to a sober house in New England.</p><p>When a young member of her family died in October, Carly didn&#8217;t run from the crisis &#8212; she came back to the area to offer support.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the holiday season and there&#8217;s sadness,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But I&#8217;m ready to be a positive part of the family, to help.&#8221;</p><p>Shannon D., who also requested that his last name not be published, said he anticipates being sober throughout the holiday season and has remained so for 10 Christmases in a row because of what he called his willingness to &#8220;work the 12th&#8221; step and reach out to others.</p><p>During the 2007 Christmas season, Shannon was a patient at White Deer Run, an in-patient treatment facility in Allenwood. He said he had been in three different facilities that year, but he finally realized how important his recovery was.</p><p>He remembers &#8220;coming clean&#8221; with the intake nurse. After he did so, he said, the reality of his life was in front of him.</p><p>&#8220;I thought, &#8216;There has to be a better way to live.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>That Christmas was further challenged by others in the treatment facility. Some are there by choice; some are directed there by the courts.</p><p>&#8220;Probably 80 percent weren&#8217;t happy to be there,&#8221; Shannon said. &#8220;So I stuck with those who really wanted to work the program.&#8221;</p><p>Those early days of recovery, he said, provided an opportunity for participants to learn a &#8220;new normal&#8221; in simple things such as making cookies, decorating a tree, and enjoying the fellowship of a meeting.</p><p><strong>Beginning the journey </strong></p><p>Several patients at Clearbrook said they hope to someday have years of sobriety to guide their recovery. But for now, they will join fellow patients and staff members in a gratitude circle on Christmas morning amid holiday glitter and glitz that could parallel a major resort.</p><p>The newest patients won&#8217;t be permitted to see their family members on the holiday, and no patients will be permitted to leave the grounds to join others at their family table.</p><p>This year, because the holiday falls on a Sunday, there will be a visiting period and an open meeting in which patients can briefly see family members.</p><p>Still, the center&#8217;s CEO, Nick Colangelo, said about 60 patients will be &#8220;among family&#8221; throughout the day, as they celebrate Christmas like many other people do: eating a special meal, admiring ornaments on the tree, waiting for outdoor lights to come on as dusk falls.</p><p>Throughout the holiday season, patients have come together in the center&#8217;s large community area not only for 12-step meetings, but for recreational activities and to shop at the center&#8217;s small store.</p><p>In that same room on a recent afternoon, patients could be found decorating a holiday tree that reached the ceiling.</p><p>Christmas also brings alumni and their families back to Clearbrook for an annual party, with many returning year after year remembering their first holiday at the center, its challenges, and its opportunities to experience a new way of living.</p><p>They talk not only about the difficulties in remaining sober during their first years, but subsequent frustrations of life that brought them back to recovery meetings and communication with their support groups.</p><p>Although Colangelo is the CEO, patients don&#8217;t hesitate to approach him as he makes his way through the center, many wanting to say hello and share a laugh with the man who says he simply loves being around people.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been told that&#8217;s pretty unique,&#8221; he said, smiling. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t know that.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Growing in sobriety</strong></p><p>Lynn Barto, clinical director of Clem-Mar House, which has a men&#8217;s facility in Edwardsville and a women&#8217;s facility in Dallas, shares Colangelo&#8217;s commitment to those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.</p><p>Clem-Mar facilities are halfway houses and differ from rehabilitation facilities.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re teaching them how to live, sometimes for the first time,&#8221; Barto said. &#8220;This is especially true during the holidays, when many are again spending time with their family, with their children.&#8221;</p><p>On Christmas Day, 25 patients in each facility will exchange gifts, eat meals together and attend recovery meetings.</p><p>Barto said she wishes the community could see those struggling with addiction as she sees them.</p><p>&#8220;These are people recovering from a disease,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Clean and sober, they can truly enjoy the day, continuing to move forward.&#8221;</p><p>Clearbrook&#8217;s open meeting on Christmas will invite those in recovery and their loved ones to come together, beginning with a reminder of powerlessness over the disease and concluding with encouragement to &#8220;Keep coming back. It works if you work it.&#8221;</p><p>Many patients at the center said they are overwhelmed with gratitude at the opportunity to spend a holiday free from drugs or alcohol.</p><p>Still, some say it won&#8217;t be an easy day.</p><p>Two men, both 60, said they felt bad that this would be another Christmas away from their families.</p><p>When asked what being in rehab was going to be like, one said bluntly, &#8220;It sucks.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;How would you feel if you wasted decades of Christmases?&#8221; the other said.</p><p>Still others said rehab has given them the opportunity to not only enjoy this year&#8217;s holiday, but to look forward to holidays to come.</p><p><strong>Unique challenges</strong></p><p>Susan McDonald, a licensed social worker and a professor at Misericordia University in Dallas, said those in recovery are responsible for managing their own holiday experience.</p><p>McDonald acknowledges the holiday provides unique challenges for those committed to abstaining from drugs or alcohol.</p><p>She encourages those she counsels to focus on the positive, to continue to participate in 12-step meetings, and to surround themselves with positive people.</p><p>Colangelo, himself in recovery, plans to join in the gratitude circle for a 40th time this year at Clearbrook.</p><p>That circle, he said, reminds participants of the importance of focusing on their similarities rather than their differences.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what recovery is all about,&#8221; he said.</p><p>To him, his position as CEO simply gives him the opportunity to help others work toward overcoming their addictions.</p><p>Colangelo has a habit he said has served him well over the years.</p><p>When he wakes up in the morning, instead of standing up, he gets on his knees.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the perfect way to start your day,&#8221; he said. &#8220;With gratitude and humility.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122516Christmas1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Clearbrook Manor CEO Nick Colangelo and rehabilitation tech Jill Brown talk about the facility&#8217;s commitment to creating a family-like environment for patients during the holiday season and beyond. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122516Christmas1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Clearbrook Manor CEO Nick Colangelo and rehabilitation tech Jill Brown talk about the facility&#8217;s commitment to creating a family-like environment for patients during the holiday season and beyond. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122516Christmas2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Clinical Director Joe Kane and counselor Jillian Falkowski add their touches to decorations on Clearbrook Manor&#8217;s Christmas tree, which had been decorated earlier in the day by patients at the facility. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122516Christmas2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Clinical Director Joe Kane and counselor Jillian Falkowski add their touches to decorations on Clearbrook Manor&#8217;s Christmas tree, which had been decorated earlier in the day by patients at the facility. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122516Christmas3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Clinical supervisor Marc Boriosi and counselor Carrie Erwine admire Christmas decorations at Clearbrook Manor in the dining hall as part of a Christmas-themed decor designed to make patients feel at home. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122516Christmas3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Clinical supervisor Marc Boriosi and counselor Carrie Erwine admire Christmas decorations at Clearbrook Manor in the dining hall as part of a Christmas-themed decor designed to make patients feel at home. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Geri Gibbons</p><p>ggibbons@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Geri Gibbons at 570-991-6117 or on Twitter @TLGGibbons.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

A Christmas in recovery: sadness, optimism in Luzerne County