Anonymous

"My sister was/is my best friend and I thought at the time that I knew everything about her life. What I didn't know was that she was ditching school everyday to get high, that when she was sneaking out of our bedroom at night that she wasn't just going to see her boyfriend, but was going to do coke with friends. My parents knew we were close and that she confided in me, and I covered for her for far too long. Every time she snuck out she would wake me up and let me know where she was going. Sometimes she would get caught and our parents would wake me in the middle of the night asking where she was, and as her sister and best friend I would lie and say I didn't know. It got to the point that everyday upon being dropped at school, I would go inside and she would pretend to walk in with me, then the second my dad would pull away from the curb, she would turn around and walk down the block to an older friend’s house. She began to loose weight, and rarely ate with the rest of us. She admitted to me one day that she wasn't hungry because she was high. Sometimes it was coke, sometimes ecstasy or pills (oxycotton, xanax, etc...). Things with her and our parents progressively got worse and worse, screaming matches about grades and curfews, and a whole assortment of things. Finally one morning I had to be at school earlier than my sister and left the house before anyone was awake. About midday I got called to the school office to take a phone call. It was my sister calling from the airport to tell me she was being sent away to a wilderness rehab camp, she would be hiking all day, 7 days a week for the next 6 weeks with no communication with the world. I was unbelievably angry that my parents would do this, but I was young and didn’t understand the severity of her situation. After 6 weeks of wilderness school I thought I was getting her back, only to find out that she would not be returning, but finishing her sophomore year of high school, as well as her junior year, at a boarding school in Utah, aka a rehab facility. We were not allowed much communication with her at first, but were eventually allowed to visit about 6 months into her therapy. She had changed so drastically I did not even recognize her. She was surprisingly happy and content with her situation and had no desire to return home to all of the people that had started her interest in drugs. She stayed in Utah for the next year and returned back home for her senior year of high school. I had never seen her more motivated, nor so serious about going to college. She had a lot of school to make up for all of the classes she had failed and worked harder than anyone I have ever known so she could get into her dream school, UC Berkeley. Come the following year not only was she starting at UC Berkeley, but was admitted to the honors political science program there. I know that rehab does not work for everyone, and that sometimes it isn’t even an option, but I cannot imagine what my family would be like if my sister had stayed on the path she was on."


Thank you Anonymous for sharing your story with all of us. I'm happy to hear your sister is doing well now, and going to UC Berkeley! It must have been very hard having to lie to your family for your sister, and it must have been extremely hard/scary to watch your sister doing all of these things at such a young age. It's amazing that your family saw the warning signs, and were able to help your sister before everything got completely out of control. I hope you, and your family are doing well. Please keep posting, and maybe share the blog with your family if you think they will benefit from it. Thank you again, and stay strong!