There are no completed how to guides to help us figure out how to deal with the chaos a family will face when their child is addicted. There are very few absolutes. Each story is the same yet uniquely different. Addiction / Recovery can be truly maddening to document.
I watched others go through the endless cycle and decided that “clean underwear did not equate to love” I loved my child but felt he had to bottom out and understand that I would not be their to “powder his butt” forever.
When my son was actively using I would mournfully look at his old baby pictures. His mom had him dressed so wonderfully;cute bow times and Osh Gosh were the choices of the time. His outfits screamed ” I am loved!” The pictures of him playing soccer, little league, basketball are mixed in. How could a child that was so loved opt to strap his arm off with a leather belt and jam a needle into his vein. The image haunted me until I began my own recovery.