I just wanted to say thank you for this and for any work you will do going forward to bring this issue to light.
My son is the addict (24yo). 4 years on heroin. Last year he stopped with the help of methadone. When he told me, for 3 seconds I thought "oh no" because having learned of his disease and watching him attempt recovery many, many times even attending AA with him, I thought he just "replaced one drug with another.” Sounds familiar, right?
He was afraid to tell me because he was ashamed.
And then I asked to see this news differently.
He had been at a job 6 months, paid us back some money he owed, moved into an apartment, paid all his bills on time, and has saved $1,000 for a car.
I saw this news as a godsend.
He came to Thanksgiving, Christmas and a week long vacation with cousins. During that week, my husband drove him to his clinic and proudly stood with his son.
Today my son is alive. He is building a life. He is making his living amends. This is what his recovery looks like.
He would never go into an AA or NA meeting because he is on DRT and is missing out on the fellowship and that does make me sad. Someone could be saved if they heard his story and instead of leaving the meeting and using (as my son has done countless times) they might pull him aside and say…tell me more!
Again, thank you.