Helen
Helen is a 64-year-old mom who thought that having a daughter late in life would make it easier. It didn’t. She knew there was addiction in her family, that she herself was a food addict and that her then-husband had been a drug addict as well, but it never occurred to her that there was a huge risk that her child would be an addict, too. When her sister’s only child died of a heroin overdose, she felt compassion, but when her daughter admitted she’d been using, too, on the very night of her cousin’s death, the wall of denial really came down. Helen had engaged in years of co-dependent behavior, coddling and denial. But eventually reality prevailed and now she gets support to stay more detached and neutral. The pain of possibly losing her only child, just like her sister did, has brought her to her knees and has brought her a new level of consciousness and a new appreciation of the sober times she has with her daughter now, still knowing she could die anytime. They are very close.
