My son was more than 'just' an addict
This First Person article is written by Shirley Nicholson who lives in Winnipeg. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please seeThat's what some people say. He was nothing but an addict. Like he planned this. Like he really didn't want to live.
Yes, he made some really bad choices in his life, and he paid for them dearly. He had spent time in both provincial and federal prisons. But he made parole and started a new life. We thought he was well on his way, but addictions are cunning and baffling diseases.Until you have a bad day.From everything I've learned about my son's addiction to alcohol and drugs, the craving, the need and the desperation to have that fix never goes away. Some can work past it.
But he died from an overdose early the next morning. And just like that, our family was lessened by one. Our lives changed forever.I'm none of those things. My husband is none of those things. Our son's sister is none of those things. We didn't have a choice on whether or not we got to be brave, strong or tough. We just became parents of a dead child; sister to a dead brother. We didn't get to choose.
But if I let myself stop and go back to that moment — the moment the police said, "I'm sorry to tell you…" — I break down in sobs. Wrenching sobs I cannot control. I can't breathe. I can't think. If I can, I hold onto something, so I don't end up on my knees right then and there. If I don't go "there," I can make it through most days.
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