Choosing Love Anyways

A few weeks ago I was having breakfast with a close friend. She informed me that her son had just relapsed on Fentanyl. They have struggled with drug addiction the last several years and I have met with them and my friend a few times to share my own experience with Substance Abuse and advice on treatment. She shared how at this point she and her son's father were willing to pay for them to go back to treatment, but also how they had to accept that getting sober was up to them.

Fentanyl is a very dangerous drug and the outcomes for opioid addiction are not great. In that moment I saw that despite knowing this, my friend chose to love her child even more. Working in addiction I found how easy it is to want to distance yourself from the pain others are going through, and I often see the family members of addicts doing this. Yet there are always those who still choose love despite the heartache that it can bring.

I feel that addiction amplifies the realities of life. We all could die tomorrow, yet in loving someone going through addiction you truly realize that you might not have long with them. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t set boundaries or take care of ourselves, but I do believe that it is important to still keep our hearts open despite the uncertainties of life. I saw beneath the tears in my friend's eyes an incredible strength and courage in her eyes. We shared a beautiful moment, choosing to acknowledge the uncertainties and loss in life yet chose also love anyways.