I have to add this to my story about my daughter who is a recovering addict.
We really used tough love on her when she graduated from high school. After so many things were "missing" from the house, including all of my jewelry and anything else that she could "hock", and coming in screaming at us late at night, it got to the point where my other children wouldn't come to our house, and wouldn't let us see our grandbabies with her there.
So, DH and I told her that she had one week to straighten out..didn't have to work, didn't have to go to school, all we asked was that she behave herself, and stop the drugs/alcohol. If not, she would have to leave at the end of the week. She said, fine and left with the clothes on her back. It was the hardest thing I ever did, but I had to do it. She was destroying all of us, and DH and I had to be a united front.
But I always believed she would tire of her lifestyle and come home. She was still here in our town, and then around the Thanksgiving holiday, I couldn 't locate her...we used to see her walking around in town, and I had also given her a cell phone so that I wouldn't lose touch with her. But she was no where to be found. I wanted to die...I had no idea where to look...and then I heard that a 50 year old man got her addicted to crack and took her to Phila and just left her there. I researched this person and found relatives of his and that is how I verified my daughter's whereabouts. But finding a person in Phila is like a needle in a haystack...I had one item of clothing that she wore when she was 7, that was it, everything else was gone, and I used to hold that close to me every night and cry myself to sleep. I was a zombie through all of this as was DH and we don't know how we managed to work. Had it not been for our new granddaughter, I dont' think we would have survived. She was such a God send, and a wonderful, sweet distraction.
I would get these calls from various cell phones, like I said, and I would continue to call these people asking if they had seen her...they were dealing drugs while I was on the phone talking to them...it was unbelievable. It is like a story you see on tv. So many times our oldest daughter and DH and I would drive through the bad neighborhoods of North Phila showing people her picture...they all knew her but no one would tell us where she was...she didn't want to be found. She was an addict and all addicts care about is drugs.
The day that broke me was when I paid this kid $20 for information in a laundromat and he told me to check around the corner at this barbeque place...so we walked in this little hole in the wall place and I went up to the counter and asked if this man knew my daughter. He said he did, that she would come in there and say she was hungry but had no money and he would feed her....that did it. I cried and cried and told my DH to take me home...but we went back to my daughter who lives outside of Phila. She had invited me to a prayer service at her church that night...I went and prayed for 3 hours straight not only for her, but for all these lost souls we saw prostituting and high on drugs just aimlessly walking the streets....here is the miracle..the next am I woke up and DH said, "Who on earth was calling your cell phone at 5am" I looked, and there was a message from my daughter telling me that she wanted to come home....that was my miracle. And later that day she text messaged me and we went into the city and she came home....there are so many miracles along the way to getting her into rehab, and I will tell you that it was the power of prayer that God opened so many windows for us.
Today, she is the same child I raised, the same sweet girl with a smiling face, and a heart of gold. She is a wonderful daughter, mother and wife. And I thank God every day for keeping her alive until I could find her. She nearly died numerous times on the streets, but she said she knew that it was God who breathed life into her each time she thought she would die. And all of her lab tests came back negative for HIV, hepatitis, STD's everything...that is the work of God, no one else. She cried about that and said that it is a miracle...and now that she is married and has a 2 year old, she can't imagine what ever made her turn to that life. That little boy is her miracle and he is what keeps her on the right path. She just adores him. So, people can change and lives can heal. And hearts can mend...
Blessings to all,
Susan
I know that I can buy some at my local Wal-Mart, but it just isn't the same. Know what I mean???????
Please. 
