Reposted from: http://nypost.com/2015/10/11/our-double-lives-dark-realities-behind-perfect-online-profiles/

Written by: By Maureen Callahan

Kiersten Rickenbach Cerveny with her husband Andrew in a photo posted on Facebook. Photo: Facebook

The contrast between her life and death could not be more stark: The beautiful, successful blond doctor, a married mother of three, found lying in the vestibule of a strange apartment building, underwear stashed in her handbag, dying of a likely drug overdose.

To her family and friends, Kiersten Rickenbach Cerveny had it all.

“This was so out of character . . . I know this was atypical,” one said.

“She was human,” another said. “People forget that because she was so perfect.”

Even those who didn’t know the 38-year-old Cerveny would likely draw the same conclusion.

One look at her Facebook page — since renamed “Remembering Kiersten Rickenbach Cerveny” — would have been, until last Sunday, enough to induce envy in most anyone.

Her photo album is vast. She was photogenic, well-loved, well-traveled. Here she is on April 5, 2008, celebrating “my 30th birthday in Turks and Caicos” with her handsome future husband, Andrew, also a dermatologist.

Here they are again, dressed up for a formal event, looking utterly carefree. “Wow!” posted a user. “What a good-looking couple!”

There are pictures of Kiersten sailing in Jackie O-style sunglasses, on vacation in Hawaii, partying in New Orleans, lounging après-ski in Whistler, swathed in a thick spa robe and, later, dining by the fireplace. There are photos of her three adorable, beaming children, the youngest now a little over 1 year old. She lived with her family in a $1.2 million home in Manhasset, LI, and her life — at least on Facebook — seemed to be filled with equally good-looking, happy people living equally privileged lives.

But then, these days, the gap between the person we are and the person we present to the world has never been wider.

Reposted from: http://elitedaily.com/women/wine-drunk-best-drunk-will-ever/876374/

Written by: Ashley Fern on You’re Still Drunk

Women and wine — it’s perhaps the closest and most fun relationship out there. It’s stable, strong and reliable.

Wine is there to comfort you in the toughest of times and the most exciting of celebrations. Perhaps this is why women love wine in the first place — there is always a time for it.

Whether you are drowning your sorrows from yet another miserable day at the office or celebrating your most recent promotion, you know exactly what you are doing at the end of the day — that’s right, cracking open (or twisting off the cap of) a fresh bottle of vino.

So why is a wine drunk better than any other type of drunk out there?

1. It makes you feel classy

You could be bundled up in your sweatpants and underneath a blanket, but as long as you have a full glass of wine in hand, you’ve never felt classier.

You could be celebrating with tequila shots, but your classy ass goes straight for the vino.

2. It’s technically fruit

How many glasses does the recommended nine servings translate to?

3. Even if your teeth are purple, you still feel sexy

Chances are you won’t even realize your once pearly whites have turned five shades darker.

Reposted from: http://www.wwltv.com/story/news/features/2015/10/14/lessons-i-learned-from-loving-a-drug-addict/73958870/

Written by: Alicia Cook, Correspondent

EDITOR’S NOTE: Alicia Cook, 29, lost her cousin to a drug overdose when they were both teenagers. She regularly writes columns detailing the gut-wrenching journey in hopes that her story can save at least one life. Today, she writes about what it’s like to love someone who’s addicted to drugs.

am not an addict.

But try and love one, and then see if you can look me square in the eyes and tell me that you didn’t get addicted to trying to fix them.

If you’re lucky, they recover. If you’re really lucky, you recover, too.

Loving a drug addict can and will consume your every thought. Watching their physical deterioration and emotional detachment to everything will make you the most tired insomniac alive.

RELATED: The hellish truth about drugs, relationships

You will stand in the doorway of their bedroom and plead with them that you “just want them back.” If you watch the person you love disappear right in front of your eyes long enough, you will start to dissolve too.

Those not directly affected won’t be able to understand why you are so focused on your loved one’s well-being, especially since, during the times of your family member’s active addiction, they won’t seem so concerned with their own.

Don’t become angry with these people. They do not understand. They are lucky to not understand. You’ll catch yourself wishing that you didn’t understand, either.

Heroin addict fakes death before losing his life

“What if you had to wake up every day and wonder if today was the day your family member was going to die?” will become a popular, not-so-rhetorical question.

Drug addiction has the largest ripple effect that I have ever witnessed firsthand.

It causes parents to outlive their children. It causes jail time and homelessness. It causes sisters to mourn their siblings. It causes nieces to never meet their aunts. It causes an absence before the exit.

You will see your loved one walking and talking, but the truth is, you will lose them far before they actually succumb to their demons; which, if they don’t find recovery, is inevitable.

Drug addiction causes families to come to fear a ringing phone or a knock on the door. It causes vague obituaries. I read the papers and I follow the news; and it is scary. “Died suddenly” has officially become obituary-speak for “another young person found dead from a drug overdose.”

Jessica Cook died at 19 from a drug overdose. (Photo: COURTESY OF ALICIA COOK)

Drug addiction causes bedrooms and social media sites to become memorials. It causes the “yesterdays” to outnumber the “tomorrows.” It causes things to break; like the law, trust and homes.

Drug addiction causes statistics to rise and knees to fall, as praying seems like the only thing left to do sometimes.

People have a way of pigeonholing those who suffer from addiction. They call them “trash,” “junkies” or “criminals,” which is hardly ever the truth. Addiction is an illness. Addicts have families and aspirations.

You will learn that drug addiction doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care if the addict came from a loving home or a broken family.

Alicia Cook, right, with her cousin Jessica, before she died from a drug overdose. (Photo: COURTESY OF ALICIA COOK)

Drug addiction doesn’t care if you are religious. Drug addiction doesn’t care if you are a straight-A student or a drop-out. Drug addiction doesn’t care what ethnicity you are. Drug addiction will show you that one decision and one lapse in judgment can alter the course of an entire life.

Drug addiction doesn’t care. Period. But you care.

You will learn to hate the drug but love the addict. You will begin to accept that you need to separate who the person once was with who they are now.

It is not the person who uses, but the addict. It is not the person who steals to support their habit, but the addict. It is not the person who spews obscenities at their family, but the addict. It is not the person who lies, but the addict.

And yet, sadly… it is not the addict who dies, but the person.

Reposted from: http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/7-subtle-ways-a-guy-will-show-hes-head-over-heels-for-you-kt/

Written by: Max Karp

 Max Karp calls out women for complaining about what their guys don’t do and gives tips for how to focus on what they are doing.

—

If I had a penny for every time I heard a woman say, “All guys are assh*les,” I’d be rich. I’d be absolutely loaded.

But, how often do you hear women raving about how great a guy is? Sure, plenty of guys fall into the douchebag category, but not all of them.

Women, you’re so focused on what he doesn’t do that you fail to notice all the things he does do. If you pay attention to what he does do, you could see a part of him you’ve never have before.

Let’s be clear, though. Expensive meals, gifts and trips are not “little things.” Sorry, ladies.

But once you start to notice the real little things, you won’t even care about all the things money can buy.

Great guys are hard to come by, but they exist.

I’ll bet there are plenty in your life.

The problem is, you haven’t been looking with the right lens.

So ladies, it’s time to make the change and open your eyes to these little things you’re bound to overlook.

1. Texts

Today, technology is everything. Texting is something we can’t live without.

In a relationship, texting may or may not be a big focus. Some people prefer phone calls, some love to text and some aren’t really into doing either.

Of course, conversation should always be enjoyable. But you shouldn’t overlook the random, mid-day text that only has the intention to make you smile.

2. Flowers

Every woman loves flowers, and any good guy is sure to give a woman flowers on all the major occasions.

But why isn’t a random Tuesday a major occasion? Why not today? What about when you’re having a horrible week?

The good guy will never miss a big moment, but the great guy makes any moment a big one.

The great guy knows the power of flowers, and he’s never afraid to use them.