Sandra sobieraj westfall bio

In FebruaryAbramowitz was appointed Director of the Committee on Conscience, which guides the genocide prevention efforts of the U. Holocaust Memorial Museum. His exemplary reporting under deadline pressure was in the great tradition of Aldo Beckman and reminded us, in a year where much attention was focused on the presidential campaigns, of why the White House still was relevant and in need of close scrutiny.

The Edgar A. Winners: Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong of the Seattle Times. Poe Memorial Award for a three-part series in The Seattle Times that exposed the failure of hospitals in Washington state and across the country to control the deadly rise of the MRSA staph infection. Combining in-depth reporting and data analysis with the stories of victims and activists, the series explained the science and uncovered the public policies and corporate interests responsible for this epidemic.

Edgar A. I came from Chicago's working class. Dinner at my house was served with paper towels and often included mac and cheese out of a Tupperware bowl. Hunter tried to tell me that he came from a middle-class family. Months later, when I went to his house for the first time, I explained to him: "Hunt, a kid from a middle class family does not have a ballroom.

They wed in and by were living in Delaware with three young daughters while Hunter commuted to Washington as a partner in a lobbying firm. He started many ventures. I didn't understand any of it, or what pieces of his businesses actually generated income for us. I worried that we lived above our means, but I did nothing to change it. More than once my debit card was declined at a store.

I'd have to call Hunter to transfer money into my account. Hunter and I drove nice cars and had a beautiful home, but we were running fast on that hamster wheel and barely staying on. This was around the same time she saw his drinking "spiral from social to problematic. One Saturday morning when we had friends visiting, Hunter walked into the kitchen looking as if he hadn't gone to sleep.

I was making pancakes as I watched him pull a bottle of Jack Daniel's out of the cabinet. What are you doing? He laughed and put the bottle back. We all stared. Hunter spent years in and out of rehab, while she made excuses to their girls for his long absences. He sat down in our kitchen and opened a big black binder. Did this mean I was less important than my husband and my kids?

By November Hunter was back in rehab after exhibiting "manic" behavior the night his father and President Obama won reelection, then showing up drunk to a fundraising event. In May his brother Beau died of brain cancer, leaving behind his wife, Hallie, and two young children. But he started spending most of his time at Hallie's house.

Our therapist told me Hunter needed to be up there, sandra sobieraj westfall bio Hallie. He needs to be home with us. That summer Kathleen found a crack pipe in their ashtray and threw Hunter out. He had earlier admitted to cheating with prostitutes when he traveled for work abroad, and now their marriage became an endless loop of anger his and mistrust hers.

He rented an apartment. In the fall ofI called and texted Hunter compulsively. From my computer, I watched his every move. There were charges at Lake Tahoe at a nail salon and a charge for two lift tickets. I found hundreds at liquor stores and strip clubs. The whole time, he told me he was healthy and sober—and I was crazy. I continually told him that I was the one person actually trying to get him sober.

It became my own kind of addiction. I didn't want to admit, to myself or anyone else, how unhealthy our relationship had become, so my struggle was just one more secret. A Sunday morning in November brought painful clarity when her daughter visited the family therapist, Debbie. I received the kind of call that tightens every parent's chest.

I'd taken all three girls to see Debbie a few times to discuss Beau's illness and Hunter's drinking. Three miles later I was at Debbie's house. I went straight through to the sunroom and found Finnegan curled in a chair, holding a pillow while she wept. I wrapped my arms around her. All right? We can't do it. Was this what shock felt like?

I could see Finnegan's face relaxing now that the secret was out and I hadn't fallen apart.

Sandra sobieraj westfall bio

If anything, I felt a strange vindication. Not only had I not been crazy, but it was so much worse than I could have imagined. I was shocked, but not heartbroken.