Do you know an addict first hand? Talk about it if you wish.

[Dave says]

13. Technically

Lung cancer killed my mother, but my family and I think the cancer was enabled, if not caused by, her alcoholism. She was a very heavy drinker, never completely sober and often unable to even walk.

My ex-wife became a heroin and fentanyl addict after we divorced. She chose her brother over our marriage. He was a heroin and crack addict. My wife excised him from most of her adult life (criminal, abused women, lots of very bad stuff) until he showed up at our front door one day, his 18-wheeler parked at the curb. Their relationship grew to the point she and he were sleeping together while I was traveling on business. Sex and sleep in front of my pre-teen daughters who were too scared to say anything to me. In fact, I kept denying most of the stories until after I divorced her (she also went through 6 figure savings behind my back - that was the immediate cause for the divorce).

A friend of mine, an ex-Navy Seal, told me I should write the story of my life with her and the kids, but I’d have to call it fiction because it was so extreme no one would believe it could be true. Trust me, it far exceeds the little I say here.

Anyway, I got the kids. We have a happy life together (they’re both in their 30s now). My ex-wife, despite support from me and her dad (an ex-CFO at a Fortune 500 company), has been living on the streets for a couple of decades now. We’re all amazed she’s still alive.