- Drugs
It’s been very difficult dealing with a child with addiction. This next week will mark the one year anniversary of our youngest daughter telling us that she had been clean and sober. On June 24, we’ll mark the anniversary of when we forced Haeyley to go to a treatment center or face jail. She wisely chose the former, but she did not go willingly and she fought the treatment system all the way, as most addicts do. She was not a model patient in any of her treatment facilities. I am sure that few addicts are. She was in perhaps three or four treatment programs before she found the right one. We were running out of options.
If I didn’t love my daughter, then dealing with her would have been easier. I could have kicked her out of the house and let her deal with it. But given that she had not physically harmed anyone, I believed that she deserved my patience and help. She was not equipped to do this on her own, and I doubt that any addict is equipped to make a rationale decision. She was no different.
Haeyley fought us and the treatment system the whole way. As an addict, and a relatively smart one at that, she was very adept at manipulating the system, the people and the situation to suit her own needs. But Haeyley persevered. Miracle of miracles, something eventually took hold, and she claims to have been sober now for a year. It has not, I imagine, been easy for her. But every day she makes the correct decision and decides to continue on her good path. And every day sober is a blessing. We will always love and support her in her efforts.