When you love someone struggling with addiction, you never know what you are going to get. The good days are rare. And even when there is a good day, it may not last for long.

When you love someone struggling with addiction, you know that addiction starts with a choice. But that one wrong choice causes a downward spiral into a disease.

Drug addiction does not discriminate. It doesn't care if you are white, black, rich, poor..

IT. DOES. NOT. MATTER.

When you love an addict, you will begin to notice that there are two different people in that one body. The sober one and the addict.

The sober one captures everything positive about them. Their good qualities. Their strengths. Their happiness. Their love, hopes, and desires. Their true selves.

The addict captures everything negative about them. Their weaknesses. Their pain. Their loneliness. Their willingness to hurt themselves and others for a substance.

Loving an addict can be especially difficult because the widespread epidemic has caused those who do not know what it's like, to look down upon not only the addicts, but also those who support them.

Throughout my time of loving an addict, I guess you could say that I became an addict, too.

I became addicted to fighting for their recovery.

When you love someone with addiction, you see everything differently. You learn to judge less and love more. Everyone is struggling in one way or another.

You will constantly blame yourself and question the "what ifs?".

What if I could have realized the warning signs sooner?
What if I could have been there more? Or sooner?

The harshest truth of it all is that.. you have absolutely no control over their addiction. Until they want to help themselves, you are completely powerless. No matter how much you love them, no matter how much you support them, their life is their own choice.

And for those of you who don't know what it is like to love someone struggling with addiction, consider yourself to be one of the lucky ones. However, don't look down on someone for loving a drug addict until you have experienced the heart wrenching, exhausting, painful feeling of loving one.