As told to Eileen DeClemente by her daughter Sara: I don't feel that there is any right or wrong way to cope with parents who are alcoholics and drug addicts but I have found that people cope differently according to their needs and personalities From the time that I was a child my coping mechanism was to be around all the time to take care of my mother and if I wasn't there than she was not going to be all right

I never made any important or conscious decisions about my life I had no passion for life or what life had to offer

I had not experienced the feelings of uselessness, hopelessness and waking up in the morning not wanting to get out of bed because I felt worthless to anyone in my life especially my family Many mornings and nights I wished I would die but didn't have the guts to take my own life in twenty years