Libby Cataldi Reading and Book Signing

For every drug addict there are at least four people affected, a depressing asserting by some experts that is clearly borne out in this soft-spoke, utterly honest account by educator and School of Education alumna, Cataldi. The mother of two sons, Jeff and Jeremy, Cataldi became head of the Calverton School in Maryland in 1987, where the boys attended; she recounts chronologically how her oldest, Jeff, a bright, capable student, embarked from adolescence onward into an ever deepening and perilous spiral of drug abuse. From getting caught smoking at school in fifth grade, attending drug-sodden raves in high school, being arrested for possession of cocaine and ketamine, selling drugs on campus, Jeff was continually rescued by his take-charge but admittedly naïve mother, now divorced from their father. Entering Boston University seemed to give Jeff a fresh start, yet he was soon enmeshed in the party scene; in debilitating health, he dropped out and bounced around among halfway houses and rehab centers. Jeff had become a master manipulator to get his fix, even when later jailed for heroin possession, and Cataldi learned to stop enabling her “chameleon son” by joining Al-Anon. Taking “stagli vicino,” an Italian expression to heart, she learned to stay close and let Jeff find his way, and while her love proved steadfast, a safe outcome was never assured.

Stay Close: A Mother's Story of Her Son's Addiction