HE IS MY SON

Photo Credit: Davood Madadpoor

A friend of mine wrote, I wish I wasn’t writing this. I wish I wasn’t qualified to speak about the heroin epidemic. I wish I wasn’t a member of a community no one really wants to be part of. But I am. I am the non-addict who knows all too well what it’s like to love a person who suffers from addiction. I know what it’s like to worry yourself sick, to cry yourself to sleep, to be confused, to be mentally and financially bankrupt, and to miss someone who is standing right in front of you. I know what it’s like to feel stigmatized, to be the parent-of-a-drug-addict, to have people think that my son is a loser, a waste, a junkie. I’m here to tell you he is not. He is my firstborn. My first love. My heart. My life. He is someone.

My reflection: I would have given my soul to spare my son from the pain of addiction, but I couldn’t. Addiction doesn’t discriminate. Rich or poor, educated or not – it can take down any person. For every one addict, at least four others are caught in the trauma.

Today’s Promise to consider: As the mother of an addict, the unceasing pain can be unbearable. He suffers at the hand of addiction, and we, his family and all those who love him, also suffer. Today, I will stay close with compassion and love. I will pray. I will never give up hope. He is my son.

 

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Marcia
Marcia
6 years ago

Thank you for putting your pen to paper (well you know what I mean) today I am struggling but you wrote my feelings to a tee. I too will never give up on my son and need to focus on my love and compassion and that he is alive for today. ❤️

Maureen
Maureen
6 years ago

You are not alone. I too have shared this journey off and on for a decade. It is a heroic journey for each of us and tigether we are Stronger Thank you Libby for you ongoing conversation

Pat
Pat
6 years ago

Oh, this is so, so true!! Thank you for saying how I feel! It hurts so bad, but we love them so much!!

Kathy
Kathy
6 years ago

as I read this I cried. To see your son slowly slip away is the most painful thing…like a very slow suicide. My heart aches for each mother out there who knows these feelings. I pray daily my son will stay the journey but know there are no guarantees. May our compassion light the way for others, may we also know that miracles happen every day as I have 23years clean and sober myself. God speed….

Susie
Susie
6 years ago

Exactly how I feel about my son. He is 1 week into a 6 month rehab program. I pray he gets sober and stays sober. I will never give up hope. He is such a good person who has made some really bad choices. He is my son and I will always love him no matter what.

Marie
Marie
6 years ago

Thank you, Libby, for your beautiful words. I have just joined your Thursday meditation and this is the first one I received. How ironic, as I have 4 young adult sons in recovery. I am thankful each day they are in recovery, but know their journey is a difficult one. They are sweet, caring, wonderful young men with a disease that chose them. Hope is my best friend these days and I pray each day for every parent of a child with addiction.

Natalie Bohnet
Natalie Bohnet
6 years ago

Tomorrow is my son’s 32nd birthday. 5th year that I have noaddresd to send a card to, let alone call or see him. He is homeless & I last had contact with him in early January. This reading really helps to know others out there can understand my pain & yet constant hope.

Valinda
Valinda
6 years ago

Do you know me ? This all is in my heart I just don’t know how to share it.

Donna Kelson
Donna Kelson
6 years ago

Loving them as they are, even in the throes of addiction is so challenging but what else is a mother to do but pray that underneath that child they once knew is still there. Loving ourselves through the fight is also a challenge that we can’t ever give up.

Annette
Annette
6 years ago

Thank you for writing this. I know this all too well. My son lost his battle on June 2, 2016. I never gave up and loved him unconditionally. His story is not over and I will continue the fight in his honor. Dillon #forever22

Cheryl Tamburri
Cheryl Tamburri
6 years ago

Next week my son celebrates his 1st birthday ~ one year clean and serene from a heroin and meth addiction that launched with a Vicodin Rx for a sports injury at age 15. He is 26 today. ODs, homelessness, rehabs from the most swank to he roughest parts of grimy cities. I did everything in my power to try save him – yes, nearly to the point of financial, mental, and physical ruin – until I realized that if I allowed his addiction to destroy me then addiction was winning twice… I found Naranon. The acronyms, slogans and sayings, and blue book began to make sense. There were no strangers at the meetings – they knew me because they were me. I accepted that like those ruby slippers, my son alone had the power to recover if only he learned how to use it. He did … Today he stands before me a whole new man, committed to recovery and all it takes to sustain it – present, humble, grateful. Miracles happen – believe in miracles and never give up hope ~ where there is life, there is hope. Sending the love ~

Linda
Linda
6 years ago

We, Mom’s are the only ones that know so well these feelings. God Bless you and know He’s holding on to your son as well. Your Friend on this unfortune journey. Prayers, Linda

Miguel
Miguel
6 years ago

Congratulations for your book Stay Close. I enjoyed the story of your son in active addiction. It would be great if your son wrote his own story, how he experienced it. Kind regards

Rose
Rose
6 years ago

My son the first born is 45 years old is addiction to heroin, l send him to rehab,cost $30000.00 .stay clean for 2years, back doing heroin.the most painful thing l know he is going to died on the streets. I can’t help him. I think about it everyday.