I guess you can say that I have a lot of experience with addictions. I, myself am not an addict. My father was though. He ended up in jail for the majority of my life because of it. I volunteered for a recovery based boarding home for about four years and it was a very enlightening and heartbreaking experience. The newcomers were always filled with hope and aspiration for a better life. Determined to kick their habits and be a better person, mother, father, son, daughter, employee, and citizen. Sadly, I can count on my hands the number of people who stayed committed to their new way of life. Thankfully, some relapsed and would come back to try again, but others weren’t as fortunate. Many of the friends I made died as a result of their addiction. Why you may ask? If you are not familiar with addictions you may not understand the true complications and struggles that come along with alcoholism and drug abuse.

“Feronda” was a hard working mother who occupied a room we had for a few months. She was lively, vivacious, and all together just fun and inspiring to be around. Her child was taken from her by the state because of her drug addiction. Now living a clean lifestyle, Feronda was determined to get her child back and have a new start. I’ll never forget the conversation I had with her the day she found out she was going to get her son back. Happy and hopeful, she told me of the life she had planned. She would continue working at her job and had already begun the process of getting a home with a room just for her son fitted with cowboy decorations (her son loved cowboys). The gleam in her eyes and the smile on her face was so heartwarming. The next day she was supposed to go and sign the official custody papers and report back to us of her good fortune. However, we never heard from her again. Her mother later phoned us and told us she had robbed her and was doing drugs again.

The stories are endless and all just as saddening. Beautiful, smart girls turning to prostitution to pay for their addictions. Many occupants ended up being arrested. We had a few overdose, one who passed out over a train track and was killed as a result of it, and a few who died from alcohol poisoning. Is it genetics, heredity, or just learned? I honestly do not know nor care. That is not the issue; the issue is that it is regardless.