Please Be Aware

[Leila]

Hi everyone. My husband and I got back a few weeks ago from our trip to Seattle. My sis had a beautiful wedding. But our trip was highly stressful to the say the least. We all feel like we''ve been on an emotional roller coaster. Some terrible things happened that is really testing the strength of our family. My dear brother was arrested on drug related charges. We are so devastated. We''ve moved on from the anger. Thankfully he is safe and we are working towards resolving this whole mess. Please put him in your prayers. It never crossed my mind that he could ever be in this situation. Please, all of you be very mindful of your love ones and also question any suspicious behavior and always be mindful of the type of company they keep. I never spent a second wondering if he could be doing anything that could put him in any sort of danger, and I wish I was more watchful, a bit more suspicious and protective of him so that I could see the signs for what they were. Believe me there are signs but I only realized them for what they were in hindsight. I was so naive that things like this just doesn''t happen to people like us. We are normal people, a bit of a dysfunctional family but he''s a good kid. I just wasn''t really mindful of his behavior, activites, and his friends. I don''t mean to preach at all, but just be aware it could happen to someone you love. I just wanted to throw it out there and hope it makes a tiny bit of difference for someone.

 

[divergrrl]

Leila, I am so sorry your brother is going through this. I''ll keep your family in my prayers.

You''re totally right though. My SIL ignores her son''s signs (he''s 20 and flunked out of college, dropped off the football team --he had a scholarship) and his myspace page is full of messages from people trying to get money that he seems to owe all over the place from him. They are all "gangsta" wannabes, and he''s got a picture of an underage buddy drinking a beer and it say RIP, and something about you''re no one until you die. WHAT THE HELL? I''m only 35 & I keep forwarding my SIL his myspace page & telling her she needs to be reading that stuff, but she won''t.
He''s headed for trouble, I can smell it--and he''s lying so much now, that talking to him does no good. But I do anyway. And now he won''t listen to me or my husband (his uncle) because we''re too square.

We all have to watch over our loved ones.

Jeannine

 

[devientdrow]

I''m really sorry to hear about your family crisis! Both of you! I am a recovered heroin addict. I''m not proud of it at all and it''s not something I like to advertise but i''ll talk about it when I feel like it might give someone some comfort. I had a problem for about a year and a half. It was horrendous. I have been clean for 3 years now and have had all sorts of great things happen in my life. Keep in mind it''s NOT YOUR FAULT. No one can predict anything like this. I have a great family. I never had a problem like that before nothing. I just happened to of gotten really depressed, made some bad decisions and found myself in a bad place. Honestly, no one can make anyone clean. Even if you think someone isn''t listening to you it does help. It shows them that you care and when they are ready, because it can''t happen until they are, they will remember your efforts. Good luck and don''t lose hope!

 

[Leila]

Date: 9/18/2006 2:09:13 PM
Author: divergrrl
Leila, I am so sorry your brother is going through this. I''ll keep your family in my prayers.

You''re totally right though. My SIL ignores her son''s signs (he''s 20 and flunked out of college, dropped off the football team --he had a scholarship) and his myspace page is full of messages from people trying to get money that he seems to owe all over the place from him. They are all ''gangsta'' wannabes, and he''s got a picture of an underage buddy drinking a beer and it say RIP, and something about you''re no one until you die. WHAT THE HELL? I''m only 35 & I keep forwarding my SIL his myspace page & telling her she needs to be reading that stuff, but she won''t.
He''s headed for trouble, I can smell it--and he''s lying so much now, that talking to him does no good. But I do anyway. And now he won''t listen to me or my husband (his uncle) because we''re too square.

We all have to watch over our loved ones.

Jeannine

Thank you Jeannine. You are a good aunt for being concerned about your nephew and trying to intervene. Why won''t your sister get involved? I hope someone can reach him before it''s too late.

 

[Leila]

Date: 9/18/2006 2:47:25 PM
Author: devientdrow
I''m really sorry to hear about your family crisis! Both of you! I am a recovered heroin addict. I''m not proud of it at all and it''s not something I like to advertise but i''ll talk about it when I feel like it might give someone some comfort. I had a problem for about a year and a half. It was horrendous. I have been clean for 3 years now and have had all sorts of great things happen in my life. Keep in mind it''s NOT YOUR FAULT. No one can predict anything like this. I have a great family. I never had a problem like that before nothing. I just happened to of gotten really depressed, made some bad decisions and found myself in a bad place. Honestly, no one can make anyone clean. Even if you think someone isn''t listening to you it does help. It shows them that you care and when they are ready, because it can''t happen until they are, they will remember your efforts. Good luck and don''t lose hope!

Thank you Devientdrow for sharing your story. We lost a cousin to heroin. We don''t know where he is or if he is even alive. It''s very sad. Your strength and bravery to overcome your addiction is an amazing accomplishment. It''s comforting to know it can be done.

 

[codex57]

Wow, my prayers are with all you guys.

 

[devientdrow]

Date: 9/18/2006 10:50:01 PM
Author: Leila

Date: 9/18/2006 2:47:25 PM
Author: devientdrow
I''m really sorry to hear about your family crisis! Both of you! I am a recovered heroin addict. I''m not proud of it at all and it''s not something I like to advertise but i''ll talk about it when I feel like it might give someone some comfort. I had a problem for about a year and a half. It was horrendous. I have been clean for 3 years now and have had all sorts of great things happen in my life. Keep in mind it''s NOT YOUR FAULT. No one can predict anything like this. I have a great family. I never had a problem like that before nothing. I just happened to of gotten really depressed, made some bad decisions and found myself in a bad place. Honestly, no one can make anyone clean. Even if you think someone isn''t listening to you it does help. It shows them that you care and when they are ready, because it can''t happen until they are, they will remember your efforts. Good luck and don''t lose hope!

Thank you Devientdrow for sharing your story. We lost a cousin to heroin. We don''t know where he is or if he is even alive. It''s very sad. Your strength and bravery to overcome your addiction is an amazing accomplishment. It''s comforting to know it can be done.

Thank you for the kind words. Thats what I was hoping to give you. I see a lot of shows on tv or just have just seen people go through it themselves where it just seems completly hopeless but I want people to know it isn''t. I want you to be able to keep hope not matter how bad it may seem. People can change! I think it''s great that you have taken noticed and care about the situation. Sometimes the people closest to the person with the problem ignore the signs. No one wants to believe that their mother/son/cousin/friend/husband ect ect has an addiction problem. One thing I saw in treatment that your right about was it really can happen to anyone. It''s not always one particular stereo-type. I will keep your brother in my prayers. I know being arrested is devastating but to some people it''s the kick in the butt that they need to really realize how far they are falling and that it''s time to move forward and get back to being who they really are. Best of luck!