Here It Is In A Nutshell...

[*Confuzzled*]

So... She died in 2004 - four years in November. When I say she - I mean my mom. She was this amazing person. And so was my dad when I was younger. Thats why I think I had such a hard time dealing with him getting sick. As I got older - he got worse and worse. He has substance abuse issues. His two best friends seem to be Jack Daniels and Jim Beane. He started on Codeine because he has chronic pain - and over the years he somehow managed to get it all the way to Hydra-Morph-Contin. The pure form of Morphine. He was never taking the proper doses. It started getting worse until it was at the point that he was waking my brother to threaten suicide. Then he started the fights with me. It got to the point where my Mom called Social Services although to this day my dad believes the neighbours did. They told my mom that she had to remove my younger sister and myself from the home or wed be taken away from her. We left and were in and out of battered womens shelters until we ended up at Hope Mission. Thats where she died. MS complications and pneumonia - leading to an embolism. My father and brother moved out to Vegreville and me and my sister went into care. Ive been raped. Ive been molested. My own little sister woke up with our foster brother on top of me and had to wake me and tell me what she saw... Ive been using drugs and alcohol to cope for the last couple years but never really thought it was a problem. My little sister turned fifteen the other day and because of me we came home under the influence of liquor and pot, we missed the combo Birthday-Thanksgiving dinner that my exes mom had put together and were brought home by the cops.
I have a problem.

[Support Team]

Hi Confuzzled,

Wow, that's a lot for anyone to deal with. It takes courage to share what you are going through and courage to admit you have a problem. We are glad you did. We are sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. Grieving is a process that's unique to everyone - people grieve in their own time and their own way. It makes sense that this is still really affecting you.

Nobody deserves to be treated the way you have been in the past. You mentioned that you have been sexually abused. We are concerned for your safety - are you still in contact with your abuser?

From what you said, it sounds like you are concerned about the well-being of your sister. We encourage you to contact Child and Family Services (780-427-3390). Their mandate is to provide support and education for families and they have a variety of programs. Let us know how you feel about making this call.

Sometimes, it can be overwhelming when you have so many things going on and it can help to deal with one thing at a time. What in your life do you feel needs to change first for you?

Take care & keep posting,

The Support Team