Dear Son,
We love you.
Not a moment has passed since we heard of your addiction, that we have not been thinking of you and how to help you.
We are very proud of the progress you have made in the last two months. You are now in a much better position to determine your own destiny.
You have been through the acute withdrawal. Your first injection of Vivitrol got you through the following month. These past weeks while we have been trying to get your second Vivitrol injection have been challenging for all of us.
Two months on and you are no longer physically addicted to Heroin. You may be experiencing cravings, but this will not be the only desire in life that you will need to learn how to control.
Your behavior over the past couple of days concerns me greatly. I feel you are at a tipping point. Tip one way and you will begin the slide back into the dark and dangerous life of an addict. Tip the other way and begin to enjoy the life of a smart young man who has the world at his feet.
The thing is I cannot tip you one way or the other. Nor can your mother, or brother, or sister, or aunts, or uncles, or grandparents, or friends. Even though you have so many people on your side, wanting you to succeed - it is all up to you. Lean one way towards darkness or lean the other way towards light. You need to make that decision.
At each key point in our journey together over the past two months, you have been the decider. Your mother and I have had input and opinions, but at the end of the day the decision was yours. We then helped to support your decision to the best of our ability.
It is time for you to make another decision.
Where to from here?
There are many paths one can choose in life to get to their destination and it is time for you to choose yours.
Where do you want to be in the next 5 to 10 years? What do you want to be doing?
What do you need to do in the next 3 months to give you the best chance of achieving those goals?
What are the most important things to get done this month?
What has to be done right now, this week?
Think about it. Talk it through with your counselor. Call and discuss it with me or your mother. Bounce some ideas off your friends. Do what you need to do to make a decision.
You know your mother and I want to do whatever we can to help you succeed. So once you have made the decision, sit down and write up your plan. What has to happen and when? Who has to do it? What is plan B and C if plan A does not work out.
Then, if you want our help, come and talk to us.
We love you. We want to help you. But we will only help you if:
- we believe it is in your best interests,
- it is something we are able to do, and
- it is not to the detriment of other family members.
Good luck on your journey. Choose your path wisely.
We love you.
Mum and Dad.
