A Mother's Day Message from Narconon Arowhead

My name is Lonnie Cuccaro. I am a successful business owner and wife, but most of all, I am the proud mother of two beautiful daughters, Nicole and Shannon. Our family was almost destroyed by the most devastating disease I have yet to see. We watched someone we love, someone who lit up a room by her mere presence, a person that touched the lives of everyone she came in contact with, self-destruct before our eyes.

How do I begin to tell a story that opens wounds that still have not fully healed? I can only hope it will give strength, courage, and hope to someone who may think all is hopeless.

When did my daughter stop seeing what the world saw? “A beautiful, amazing soul.” When did sadness and low self-worth overwhelm her to the point where she started to harm the one person she should be kindest to: herself?

How do you watch your child slowly die before your eyes while you stand helplessly by? My daughter's life was almost claimed several times by a disease so insidious that it is the most dangerous disease of all. It is called addiction.

Saving my daughter became my obsession. The more she spiraled downward, the more I went to the depths of hell with her, going so far as to put myself in harm’s way to protect her. You never realize what you are capable of until it involves your child.

I have never been faced with evil or even knew if it really existed. I know now it does. Addiction is evil in the purest of forms. It isolates families from friends and co-workers. Unlike a terminal illness where compassion and support are given freely, this is a dirty little secret that you must suffer alone because of the stigma attached to it.

This disease thrives on shame, guilt and lies. The most devastating part of it all is that it steals the soul and leaves behind a shell of that someone you once knew and loved. How do you fight the enemy that does not acknowledge love and only knows destruction?

I am compelled to tell this story because we can no longer turn a blind eye to this all-too-common problem. This is not just MY story, it is your neighbor's story, a friend's story, a relative's story, a co-worker’s story. And the problem isn’t just with illicit drugs like cocaine and marijuana, it also involves alcohol and prescription drugs.

Although this has been the longest and the hardest struggle of my life, please know there is hope. Do not give up on your loved ones even if they stumble over and over. There is real help out there. My daughter is a perfect example. She has now been sober for nearly one full year and she is happier than she has ever been. She is working as a counselor at the most amazing drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in this country called Narconon Arrowhead. That is where Shannon’s life was saved. I have been so impressed by their work I have become a field representative for them so I can help others who are caught in the same downward spiral that Shannon was.

I could not have survived this ordeal without the support of the loving family and friends that surrounded me. There were times I didn’t want to get out of bed but they dragged me out. My family helped me find Narconon by doing the research to find a program that would save Shannon’s life.

If you would like to contact Narconon Arrowhead, you may do so by calling 1-800-468-6933 or going to their website at http://www.stopaddiction.com/. If you would like to contact me you may do so at: lonniecuccaro@sbcglobal.net.

God bless those of you still struggling, but know that there is help and there is hope.

Sincerely, Lonnie Cuccaro