heartbreak.

Substance abuse. I am not sure there is anything worse that can affect a family. It is like finding out you have a family member who went to the store and bought themself cancer, but thinks chemo is for sissies and cancer is cool. It is a death sentence. It is a burden. It is heartbreaking. It is devastating. It is embarassing. And how can you, seriously, force an adult into help? Do they have to hit "rock bottom" to change? Can love and support help at all? Is loving someone enabling them?

And it is so private... no one wants to talk about drug abuse. Seriously - if you know someone who is suffering from a terrible disease, you shout it from the roof tops! Calling in your friends and family for loving support! Asking for prayers! Asking for help! ... when it is drugs, everyone keeps quiet. private. everyone blames themselves. and I am following this protocol by keeping this vague. because, when you do shout it from the rooftops, people offer their opinions about what should have been done, what could have been done - like if they had been in charge of this person, it would have never happened. so, we bottle. and we pray it will go away. and we pretend it isn't happening. and we lie... to ourselves and for them. and no one wins.