I read the stories at PSST because...(written by Anonymous) Posted by:Lloyd Woodward--Sunday, January 13, 2008

I write this as an outsider, to let you all know that I have read what you have shared to empower myself, and in turn, empower my child for the future.


I read the stories at PSST because...

My child is not an addict. She is only 10 years old. She will ask me if even the slightest things are toxic. "Mom, there was beer in that bottle! Dad made beer and it was in a Mountain Dew bottle! I thought it was Mountain Dew. I drank a sip and I spit it out. OMG will it kill me?!!!!!!

"She's quite dramatic. While it is quite serious to her, I have to say, "No, the traces that you may have swallowed will not kill you." But I also think about how to handle the situation because I don't want her to ever drink.

You see, I did my share of drugs and I was lucky. When the drugs started calling my name and I found myself in the worst places looking for them, I realized that I was becoming the person I had hated the most when I was growing up- I was becoming drug addicted like one of my parents-and I walked away from it.

The stories on this blog move me to tears and make me cry for the parents going through the steps to save their children. Or worse, the grief of a parent who lost their child to drug addiction. I also read this blog to empower myself for what might come. Even though my child is only 10, she knows that drugs kill. She knows about Jessica and I tell her, "You know drugs can kill you even just from trying them. You don't know what's in them. Drugs can kill you and just trying them and experimenting with them can kill you. It just takes one time. Just one time that someone says, "Come on- you're a wimp if you don't." I tell my daughter, "Be a wimp and live, Honey. Don't listen to someone that doesn't care about you."

I tell my daughter, "Hear me now- drugs will strip you of your joys, your loves and your life." I tell her every tragic story and make every child real to her. The pain is as apparent as the tears that roll down my face. I say, "Be different, be strong, live to be the person that you want to be when you grow up. Don't be a grave I have to visit because someone told you that drugs are OK. Don't be a grave I have to visit because some kid told you they wouldn't like you if you don't take drugs."

I tell her that school friends and fads and coolness will not matter in a few years although I know they are important to her now. Fortunately, she likes who she is at this point. Fortunately, the stories that I read to her off of your blog is knowledge- and knowledge is power.

I hope I never need to be in your group but as one who has been a drug abusing teen and a drug abusing adult- I want to use any preemptive measures I can to spare my child the same path.

Me? I could have been anything, anybody. Not to brag, but I have been tested at Borderline Genius IQ and I could have done anything with my life. Instead, I chose to be stoned, tripping, or drunk. I tried to escape my alcoholic father by becoming what I hated most. I was just lucky. I don't want my child to have to depend on luck.

As a parent I feel your pain. As a regular reader of this blog, I feel the tremendous dedication that you all have towards these kids and towards each other. So I write this as an outsider, to let you all know that I have read what you have shared to empower myself, and in turn, empower my child for the future. Please, keep doing what you do on this blog- if it makes a difference to me I believe that it makes a difference to many other parents as well. Many of us, God willing, will never make it to one of your meetings, but we are there with you each time we read what you have shared.