Marilea Rabasa grew up in a small Massachusetts town. Her marriage took her overseas, where she lived with her husband and children in the Foreign Service. After divorcing, she taught English as a Second Language in Virginia for seventeen years, and earned a Master of Arts (Reflective Practice) in teaching. She joined Story Circle Network in 2013; since then, her stories have appeared in several publications, among them the SCN anthologies, their journal, and their blog, One Woman’s Day. She has also blogged at www.recoveryofthespirit.com on the topic of addiction recovery since 2015. Marilea and her partner spend most of the year enjoying grandchildren, boats, and salt air on an island in Puget Sound. The rest of the year they live in New Mexico, where they grow produce for sale.

Addiction is a stealth predator. Unrecognized, it will grow and flourish. Unchecked, it destroys.

Marilea Rabasa grew up in post-WWII Massachusetts in a family that lived comfortably and offered her every advantage. But they were also haunted by closely guarded family secrets. Alcoholism reached back through several generations, and it was not openly discussed. Shame and stigma perpetuated the silence. And Marilea became part of this ongoing tragedy.

From an unhappy childhood to a life overseas in the diplomatic service to now, living on an island in Puget Sound, Mask chronicles Marilea’s experiences, weaving a compelling tale of travel, motherhood, addiction, and heartbreaking loss. The constant thread throughout this story is the many faces and forms of addiction, phantoms that stalk her like an obsessed lover. What, if anything, will free her of the masks she has worn all her life?

An inspiring, poignant recovery story, Mask tells how Marilea took on the demons that plagued her all her life—and defeated them.