The thing with addictions is that the addict has to WANT help, which usually means they have to hit rock bottom, and hit it hard. I met a beautiful young woman when I was 18, and she was 17. It wasn't long before I realized that she had some demons that were controlling her life. She got involved in drugs and alcohol, and I admit I enabled her behavior for the first several months because I didn't yet understand it. She struggled for a few years, eventually getting her life on track. She had been through more than a few failed attempts at sobriety, but finally had been clean and sober for a few years, been in university and established a good start in a career.
That was over a period of about 9 years, during which our relationship also went through many ups and downs, but I always felt that we had a future together. Unfortunately just as things were looking really positive, she was murdered. That sent me on a downward spiral where my best friend was in a bottle. Three years of not giving a **** before I got my **** together, but I still am left with the question that will never be answered, what might have been.