Hope4Always -- Thank you so much for your posting. Reading your words really make me feel better.
Yes, I am impressed and proud of my 13 yr. old and the goals she has for her life. She's a ballet dancer and wants to go away to a boarding school where she does her academics in the morning, then gets to dance all afternoon. Her goal is to be in a ballet company, teach ballet or end up on the stage in NYC!! Told me she doesn't want to stay here and go to the local high school with all the "stoners", (as well as to get away from dad's drug problems).
I'm lucky in that I have a warm, open, loving relationship with her - all we've had is each other through some pretty rough times and I think that's made us closer. I may regret getting involved with my addict, but I will never regret having her, which was the result of getting involved with him, so I guess that's the bright side to this dark cloud of addiction we've been dealing with for so long.
I know I have to be a strong role model for her and I thought I was doing that staying in this marriage "till death do us part, for better or worse", but I realize staying is doing her (and me) more harm than good. I don't want her looking back on her life saying "Why didn't Mom get me the hell out of there".