At my worst, I even resented Nic because an addict, at least when high, has a momentary respite from his suffering. There is no similar relief for parents or children or husbands or wives or others who love them.

When I transformed my random and raw words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into chapters, a semblance of order and sanity appeared where there had been only chaos and insanity.

Here's a note to the parents of addicted children: Choose your music carefully...There are millions of treacherous moments.

I didn't cause it. I can't control it. I can't cure it.

Anyone who has lived through it, or those who are now living through it, knows that caring about an addict is as complex and fraught and debilitating as addiction itself.

I'm not sure if I know any 'functional' families, if functional means a family without difficult times and members who don't have a full range of problems.

An alcoholic will steal your wallet and lie to you. A drug addict will steal your wallet and then help you look for it.