Drug addiction is just a choice, right? Yes, the initial dose was a choice, but after that, the brain depends on that drug and they lose control. STDs start with a choice, and so does constant tanning or smoking that leads to cancer. They're all just different diseases on the spectrum. But you still think it's just a choice, huh?
Tell that to the little girl that would have "I love you more" fights with her father. She woke up early every morning to the aroma of coffee and him sitting at the kitchen table either reading the newspaper or staring out of the window. They watched CSI and WWE matched with pizza and wings or TV dinners. She had summers filled with eating from the grill almost every night and swimming in the pool every day. At least once a week they rode their bikes to the nearby ice cream shop to get cheesy fries and ice cream. They always rode on the Harley, four-wheelers, and snowmobiles. She sat right by her dad's side riding around in his truck every day and went to work with him. She had to get something at every store they stopped at. He called her "his beautiful girl" and his "princess" more than her own name. Her father was her best friend.
Then everything changed. She didn't know what happened to him, it was like a flipped switch.
Early mornings turned into late nights and late afternoons. When she got back from school he'd still be sleeping due to having random people over during the night and the activities they would partake in. Eating out turned into scraping up money for food or putting together what they had left at the house. Summers turned into the lawn seldom mowed and the pool never being open. They didn't ride to the nearby ice cream shop anymore because he was always in pain and they didn't have the money for it. Later on, she found out his pain was withdrawals. They ended up selling the Harley, four wheelers, and snowmobiles to get the bills paid. Her father even sold his truck and stopped going to work. The only time they went to the store was so he could get more alcohol and get whatever food they could afford. Instead of him buying her things, she was lending him money that only got paid back half of the time.
One night he snapped and pushed his "beautiful girl" to the ground. That same night he repeatedly hit his "princess;" when she got free, she ran to the neighbor's house and had to stay there for the night. The next morning he came crying, he was sober and realized what he did wrong. Instead of supporting her, she was supporting him and his drug habit.
Her best friend; her father; turned into a stranger. He wasn't the same man she looked up to. She watched him go from a superhero to a villain.
It can completely change a person, but it's not a disease, right? Tell that to the little girl who watched as her father was no longer able to find happiness in the things they used to do together, and no longer could find it in her. She constantly wonders why her father doesn't love her and doesn't make an effort to be in her life anymore, but he'll make every effort to get his next hit.
Tell that to the little girl who's not so much of a little girl anymore. tell that to me. Because after watching that happen to someone you love, that's when you'd realize you couldn't be more wrong.
