Posted by D.S. on May 18, 2001 at 13:30:33:
In Reply to: Re: 19 Year Old is Scaring Me to Death! posted by Married to an Alcoholic on May 17, 2001 at 16:36:15:
First, let me thank you for taking the time to offer your opinions. I strongly agree with you...HE is the one that needs to want to make the changes. However, I do not feel that I allow him to break the law. I would never supply or buy him alcohol. I have in fact called the police. They took him to the hospital...not jail..and let him sober up. They are the ones that helped get him into counseling. I don't understand what you think he would learn in jail either. Maybe he would make friends with worse people? I don't know! He does not drink all the time, and says he does not have to drink to have fun. It has been 3 months since he drank. He has been accessed by two different counselors and we have been told by both that he does abuse alcohol on occasion but he is not an alcoholic. Yet....he needs to learn to deal with problems and disappointments differently. I do talk to all my kids and I truly believe he would tell me if there was some deeper thing going on here. I have talked to him until I am blue and I have prayed until I have fallen asleep...I guess I just need to know that I have done all that I can do. I am tired of tiptoe-ing around, trying to make everything good, so that the bad stuff won't seem so bad for him. I guess I need to cut the umbilical cord and just stop worrying so much. Easier said than done! Thanks.