You are ten years old, in the kitchen doing the dishes when your mother comes raging in, grabbing you by your ponytail and dragging you into the laundry room. You get yelled at because the shoes you had waxed and polished earlier were not shiny enough and you’re smacked in the face because you put the brush with its bristles down, bending them slightly. You stare at your feet because you are afraid to look up, worried you will get another beating. You stand in silence until she leaves the room and wait to cry until you are sure she won’t return.
Individuals can suffer from many kinds of drug addictions, but you, an innocent child don’t understand. You do not pay attention to all the pill bottles in the medicine cabinet or the many trips to the doctor, the clinic and the pharmacy. All you see is a mad woman desperately needing addiction treatment who seeks pleasure in tormenting you and making your life a living hell. This creature who calls herself your mother is the one laying down the law, piling up so many chores you have no time for friends and making you hide in a corner every time she starts another fight with your dad. She is the tyrant, breaking up the family and making it so dysfunctional your dad finally leaves. You don’t know why this is happening to you or why you are being punished. You did the best you could and all you know is that you are ten, still sitting in the laundry room, rubbing those black pumps.
Five years go by and the horror continues. You’ve become a lot smarter, pay more attention to detail and have learned to lie to survive. The sewing room upstairs where you do your homework is your sanctuary and you spend as much time there as you can - with the door closed. You hide behind headphones, bought with money saved from babysitting jobs, so you can escape the daily deafening ravings, which continue even after your mother blackmailed your father to return home, and you plot possible escape routes for every room in the house.
Then one day you come home from school to find her sprawled out on the stairs, vomit dripping out of her mouth. A cut on the side of her forehead is bleeding. You take it all in and wonder if you should just pretend you did not see this, and proceed to the kitchen. But you can’t. Despite her unexplainable actions, you know you love her. You drop your backpack, run next door where your grandparents live and call for help.
Your grandfather comes over, helps your mum to her feet and cleans her up. He puts her on the couch and asks you to watch her until your father comes home. Surrounded by the entire family you hold her, cry, and tell her again how much you love her, and wish she would stop taking those devastating drugs. Your sister does the same, and so does everyone else in the room.
The intervention worked and the next day your mother keeps her promise and calls a treatment center. Your father takes her there. He explains that your mother really is a great woman, who has to learn how to confront, control and communicate again, things she forgot because of her drug addiction. She loves you and really does not want to be that way. She is creative, intelligent and strong.
A few days go by and your dad tells you that mom is going through a drug detox program which will gradually remove the residual drugs from her body. When she gains more control of herself she will be involved in your life again, and she will start to take on more responsibilities. The program will address and handle the reasons why she started to use drugs in the first place, and will give her the knowledge and confidence she needs to return to the family and lead a blissful, drug-free future.
Three months go by and the big day has arrived. Your mother found alternative ways to deal with her back pain, and no longer needs drugs to ease her pain. She now is ready to return home and work. At first she is a little shy, humble and remorseful. She hugs you, and it feels so good to feel those caring arms back around you. Rebuilding the family is going to take some work, but you are all prepared for it, thanks to the helpful, and informative advice from the drug rehabilitation center’s counselor. You cannot believe it, but your mother is actually drug-free and brought back to life. No more nightmares, only happy memories from now on!
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