Just abstaining from drugs is NOT recovery.
If drugs were my only problem, it would stand to reason that once I put them down, I would be fine.
I wasn't. You see, the drug use was just a symptom of the real problem, and that is
me and what is right between my ears.
There are many forms of recovery out there, but if he is only abstaining, well, you see what the results have been.
I stuck with my addict husband for 5 very looooooong years. He never did find recovery and was buried last year at the age of 47. He turned out HIV+ after I had left him in 1986, and died of complications from AIDS.
I had to get away from him for my own safety and my own recovery.
One of the first things I learned in rehab was I needed to change my playmates, my playgrounds and my playthings, or I was destined to fail.
Sadly, that proved to be true 4 years down the road when I got involved with another addict who relapsed after 2 years of recovery, and I went down the drain with him. That relapse was 100% my fault; I had no one else to blame but me.
Today, I refuse to be involved with anyone not in recovery. I'm not even dating. I'm starting college this summer and a relationship isn't even at the bottom of my list!
My oldest daughter, now 30, has been an addict for 15 years now, and is no longer welcome in my home. She knows I love her, and I will be there for her should she ever decide to find recovery. Till then, I keep her in my prayers and have faith that God's plan is at work for her just as it has been/still is for me
