As a child, my blond, blue eyed boy was happy, gregarious and the light of our seemingly perfect families lives. He grew up in a loving family with an involved Stay At Home Mom, an attentive Father who worked hard to provide a nice life, in a town with nice neighborhoods, good schools and a younger sister who adored him. Now, at at age 21 he is an IV drug user addicted to the powerful painkiller Oxycontin and in his second treatment center in a year. His addiction and actions the past few years has torn our family apart. His father and I are divorcing and our weekends are often filled with flying to or spending the day in the car going to meetings at the treatment centers trying to learn how to help him instead of the weekends in Napa together or in Tahoe with he and his sister we thought we would have at this point in our lives. I have spent many nights pouring over old family photos trying to figure out where I went wrong with him. The guilt parents feel is overwhelming at times. Tonight he is in a treatment facility so I know he and innocent people are safe. Today I don’t know what the future holds for him. I pray he remains in treatment long enough for a life without drugs to become what he wants, and that the pain this has caused our family subsides.

Sandra