For

"The short hand is the story of loving someone, and fighting to keep them...at your own expense. The process that I held in my mind while composing the album was a year and a half battle with a woman I loved terribly...that was addicted to methadone. It took priority in her life, above herself, her job and me. I fought to help her, to get her clean, and by doing so...lost pieces of myself along the way. There was a zero barrier at which I had to decide to continue fighting a senseless and pointless battle with her addiction or save myself and end it.

I had to choose self-preservation, and ended the relationship, but with great strain on my emotional state. I felt compelled to continue helping her, but knew, for my own good...that I had to let her go, and that she needed to realize sobriety on her own, without my aid. This is my story and my journey...a personal endeavor that I wish to never repeat again." -- Alceste