09/07/2025
People always ask me about this picture.
“Who wrote that on your face?”
It was my dad.
I had stolen his credit card to feed my addiction, and he didn’t know what else to do. He was exhausted, scared, and out of answers. This was his version of tough love… messy, imperfect, human.
Back then, I thought it was humiliation.
Now, I know it was heartbreak.
Addiction turns families inside out. It leaves everyone clawing for control in ways they don’t recognize.
I look at this photo now and don’t see shame anymore.
I see a girl who was drowning.
And a dad who was trying, in the only way he knew how, to save her.
If you’re in that place right now, begging someone you love to “just stop”… I see you. And I promise you, there’s a way through this.
