Heartbreaking Words That Saved First Lady and Addict – Betty Ford

YOU CAN DANCE BETTER SOBER –

Dec. 21, 2024 – ‘Now Betty was shaking, as if being shaken awake from those lost conversations with her daughter.’‘Mom, when I was little, and even as I grew up, I always admired you for being a dancer. I wanted to be just like you. But now, these days, you’re falling and clumsy. You’re not the same person. And I’ve talked to you about things – things that were important to me, and the next day you didn’t even remember.’

Betty, reluctantly, agreed to a four-week rehab program and, a week later, sat in Dr Joe Pursch’s office with her husband and Barrett, ready to check in.

But first, it was important she acknowledge the full extent of her demons.

‘We all knew the drugs weren’t the only addiction Betty was battling,’ writes Barrett, ‘and perhaps not even the main one, but it had been hard enough on her and the family to confront the pain meds issue.’

Dr Pursch nudged her: ‘Well, Mrs. Ford, is there anything else you would like to tell us before going into the rehab program?’

Betty thought for a moment then said there wasn’t.

‘Are you sure?’ Pursch asked again. ‘There’s nothing else you need to tell me?’

‘No, no. I can’t think of anything,’ she said.

If her treatment was to be successful, it was imperative she be honest with herself and her doctors, so he pressed a third time.