Book Description
This memoir is the harrowing story of one mother's journey through the hell of her daughter's heroin addiction. It is also a topical memoir that traces the social history of drug use from the youth culture of the 1960's to present time, and also examines public policy on drug abuse and its impact on our criminal justice system. The author’s story begins as a young woman whose mother, an antiques dealer, was murdered in her upscale suburban antiques shop in 1968; 3 days after the Chicago Democratic Convention where cops and hippies clashed in a historic confrontation. Subsequently, the author emerged into the youth culture of the 60’s, where rampant drug experimentation was the norm. Out of this chaos, the author then examines her personal history from that personal and social historic moment, leading to her subsequent marriage to an alcoholic, and then to the three children who were the offspring of that marriage. From the time her oldest daughter was a teenager her daughter exhibited addictive personality traits, culminating in a serious heroin addiction and consequent enmeshment in the criminal justice system. On the night of August 18, 2009, at 32 years of age, her daughter lost the battle to her addiction and died of a drug overdose. The suffering this addiction inflicted on her daughter, the family, and society at large is examined in an unflinching portrayal of the nefarious forces at work. Addiction is indeed a thief that steals a promising future from anyone who suffers from these compulsive behaviors, and it steals in an indiscriminate manner from all echelons of society. This moving story makes a brave attempt to understand solutions and treatments for drug addiction. Although the subject matter is gritty, the story is neither gloomy nor depressing, and may offer hope to families of addicts worldwide
