I can’t put into words how it felt to have my son tell me he hated me. Or the feeling of doors slammed in my face, cuss words thrown at me, money disappearing from my wallet… and all of these things at the hands of my little boy who had grown up too fast and somehow ended up addicted to crystal meth.
Around 14 he distanced himself from us, but my husband and I just thought it was a stage that all young teenage boys go through. I was unaware that anything was seriously wrong until 16, when it became all too obvious that something was going on. Our doctor told us he had ADD–he couldn’t focus. He was always so bored and tired and was failing in school. So we started him on a medication to address these things. The medications helped in the beginning but then we noticed an addiction forming. He needed more and more every week, and eventually he needed the medication to get out of bed every day.
He slipped through our fingers for 12 years. It took a family drug intervention on my 26 year old son (11 members of our family came to show their love and support) and a 6 month long term drug rehab program to undo the messes of over a decade of drug use. His counselors kept us a part of the recovery process and phoned us daily or every other day. His individualized program included a medically supervised physical cleanse as well as steps which addressed his guilt, the bridges he burned with his family, the hurtful things he did to his family and his friends and most importantly, the building of a productive, drug free future.
Today he is 30, happily married and with a baby on the way. As a family we have all given our apologies and moved on. This is a priceless gift for which I thank everyone who helped our family.
