My daughter
is an amazing child and everyone—teachers, family and friends—thought she was
so self-assured. She had been accepted to every major university she
applied to and was maintaining an incredible grade point average, was involved
in competitive cheerleading and was the pride of my life. Two weeks
before our life came crumbling down, I attended parent-teacher conferences,
[she was a senior,] and I left there with a sense of pride that only a mother
can feel. I thought we had made it through the high school years and life
couldn't be better.
Two weeks
later, my then-17-year-old daughter announced through a flood of tears at 4:30
one morning that she was addicted to heroin. How did this happen?
Little did I know it was happening to an epidemic number of young people
just like my daughter. I was in denial, angry, embarrassed, ashamed, but
mostly knew that my daughter was different, and I would get this under control.
I knew I could love her out of this addiction.
She almost
died (and many of her friends did) before I figured out, through numerous
counseling programs and Families Anonymous, that this is a monster drug and the
only hope she had of recovery was long-term treatment. Two years later,
after numerous rehab programs, my daughter is doing better. I continue to
be a regular member at Families Anonymous and it truly is my sanity. As a
parent the hopelessness that goes with this addiction is horrific and parents
need treatment as much as their suffering addict.
If you are a parent, please, please don't stay in denial and please put your
humiliation aside. Get to a Families Anonymous meeting in your area, get
information and support and most of all realize that this addiction is not
logical, not manageable without long term treatment. It will not go away
on its own.
Linda