Answers -- Anonymous 1 & 2

I will answer all of the questions. So as not to make the post too long I am going to split them up and answers will follow on each day. I'm answering them in the order they were received. This is not a one time thing, if you have a question feel free to post and I will add it to the list.

Anonymous 1 ask: Did you have any 'god moments' when dealing with your son's addiction that you could share?

I can’t really say there were god moments. I don’t do the god thing so I don’t attribute actions, behaviors or results to god or other spiritual deity.

Anonymous 2 ask: How long was your son using before you became aware that he had a problem? And what were the first signs?

We found out our son was using from the court. He got caught shoplifting a lighter at Walmart when he was 15. It went to court and he was referred to a court services officer in our county and she drug tested him and he hit on marijuana. At that time I was at that point of no big deal, so he smoked a little weed, boys will be boys. We put him in counseling and the counselor was concerned and he had all of us go to some NA meetings and none of us took it serious. Couple years later it became obvious his problem was no longer just a little weed. More legal trouble with shoplifting, car was getting banged up for no reason. He would not bring any of his friends to our home. Money and things began to disappear from our house and he was forging our name on checks to get cash from the grocery store where he worked and from Walmart. At this time, around 17 years old Dad and Mom finally began to leave that place called denial and realize our son had a real life problem. But just because you are no longer in denial it doesn’t mean you know what to do or that you begin doing all the right things. We did everything that any other parent with no experience does, all of it wrong.