Overview

One of the worst things a parent can hear their teen say is, ""Judge, I am a heroin addict"". Prison to Paradise is a memoir that takes the reader on a mother's raw and emotional journey from living a seemingly normal life in the suburbs to visiting her son in a maximum-security prison. So many families feel that drug addiction and the problems that ensue are only the problems of other people. Addiction is not discriminatory to demographics or socioecomic status. Prison to Paradise gives you an insight to how a bright young man, with an optimistic future, traded it all for a drug he would have ""given his right arm for"". Her son traded freedom for prison after receiving a very lengthy sentence for crimes he committed to feed his addiction. Even though they had made plans for his future free of heroin and prison bars; after five years, her son committed suicide, alone, in a prison cell. The story is an ugly story of the realities of addiction, shame, and poor choices, threaded with faith, forgiveness and ultimately redemption. There is no guidebook for parents fighting for their children battling with addiction. The purpose of this book is to share hope in a seemingly hopeless situation, even if things do not turn out like you had planned.

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9781662911156

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After my son's death, family and friends kept encouraging me to tell Dakota's story- our version, not just the media's side. This book has taken over two years to finish. Sometimes reliving the moments was just too painful and I had to put it down for months. I am far from a perfect mom, no one is, but I have come to terms with I was the perfect mom for Dakota. When we, as parents, find ourselves in these situations three common emotions rear their ugly head: shame, guilt, and anger. ""If only I had..."" is our common first phrase. To this day if I allow myself to go there, I can shame myself into a horrible version of a mother, like so many do daily. The reality is I love my son with every breath I breathe. I am have a master's degree in nursing, yet none of my training prepared me for what we went through. I fought drug dealers, the legal system and Dakota until the day he went to heaven. Now, I want to spend the rest of my life embracing parents who find themselves in my shoes. We don't need more judgement. We just need someone to say, ""I understand and am here to listen"". Prison to Paradise was the best tool I had to fulfill that desire. I pray that every reader will continue to find the hope necessary to keep fighting! May you never give up and keep believing in the impossible. - Vanessa

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