Excerpt from The Last Stop -
Late April 2001: I found an envelope marked “Mom Only” in my basement. This “letter” was written on several small yellow-lined post-it notes. My son, David, wrote this letter after he got caught in our dog’s 10” x 12” doggy door. He was trying to get into my house to get something to eat and to take things to pawn. It was after this that I swore out a warrant for his arrest – one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. He was once again completely out of control and we – his father, brother, and I – didn’t know how to make him stop using heroin. This happened a year-and-a-half after we discovered Dave’s toolkit of drug paraphernalia and that he and his eventual wife had become addicted to heroin. We were terrified he was going to kill himself or someone else.
Excerpt from Dave’s “letter”: Mom, I am very sorry! I did not mean for these things to happen but I promise that everything will be returned by Friday. I know these things mean a lot to you but I would never take your stuff if I didn’t know for sure I could get them back. Of course, I have rationalized my actions – you can live without this stuff for a week or two, but I may not….