![]() Nationwide, more than 6 percent of people over the age of 12 was dependent on alcohol in 2014, and almost 3 percent had abused illegal drugs, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Swenson's experiences battling the exhaustion and sadness of her son's addiction are far from unique. ![]() She names a restaurant where she plans to grab breakfast, or a pool where she wants to catch some sunshine.Īnd she hopes he'll join her for that hug and small talk, just so she can let him know he's loved, and the door is open for him to come back. ![]() She stopped bailing him out, literally and figuratively.īut every April, she texts him to let him know she's in the area. She refused to talk to him while he was high, or while he was upset about the holes he had dug himself into with his drug use. She stayed in another part of the country. She realized years ago that staying active in his life - getting caught up in his dramas, lending him money, bailing him out of jail - was killing her son and enabling the addict wearing his face. ![]() Anything except talk of his addiction and the chaos spiraling outward from it.Īfter years of dealing with her son Joey's addictions, these annual interactions are the only chance Swenson has to make new memories with her oldest child. Sandy Swenson makes the pilgrimage from Texas to Florida every year, not knowing whether she'll create another memory with her son.Ī hug. ![]()
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