Healing Scarred Hearts – Addiction Affects Us All
Healing Scarred Hearts by Susán Hoemke is a wonderful true story about a family that is touched by the ugly truth of addiction. Addiction is a disgusting disease that sucks the soul out of the affected person. However, the addict isn’t the only one dealing with the disease. As a recovering addict myself, I know my loved ones were deeply affected. Hayden’s family tried to help him, but addiction had other ideas.
Susán Hoemke had 4 children and a husband to take care of. When Hayden (the oldest) started to show signs of drug use, she (Susán) tried to help the best way she knew how. First, she tried to discipline him and take his things away. That is what every parent would do right? Unfortunately, his drug use escalated. The family tried rehab many times and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sometimes we just can’t help someone that isn’t ready for it. Throughout the book, the family goes through many ups and downs. The ups are awesome. When Hayden was straight and sober, he was a loving, wonderful kid. He loved his siblings and parents. When you add in drugs, you get someone you simply don’t know. The downs were very ugly. When Hayden was high he was very paranoid and scary. Imagine seeing your child go through that.
Susán’s other children did very well in school. They were bright, social kids. So was Hayden at one time. Unfortunately, Landon (Hayden’s younger brother) started to get into some of his own trouble. Thankfully he learned what not to do by watching Hayden. The other two kids were both girls, named Miranda and Olivia. They were very smart! Olivia was the youngest of them all. While reading the story, you realize that these people are just a normal family. They could be anyone. It is really scary what addiction can do to a family.
Hayden’s Addiction Becomes Too Much
Hayden tried and tried to fight the addiction. The last rehab he went to had kept him away for a year (approximately). Everything looked as if he was doing great. Addiction isn’t a disease you want to underestimate though. Just when you do, it will sneak up on you and steal your life. It truly saddens me to see what Hayden (and his family) went through. Especially when they had to finally say goodbye to Hayden. After all of the work, they all put in, and still, such a sad outcome. I can’t imagine having to let one of my children go. I feel for the whole family.
Like I said earlier, I am a recovering addict. This book was painful to read, but very eye-opening. I would recommend this book to anyone, especially those that have been affected by addiction. I hope the Hoemke family has found peace. It seemed by the end of the book they did. Thankfully, Susán has a strong marriage.
Susán Hoemke hopes that this book will be a wake-up call to everyone about how much of an epidemic addiction is in our country. This book will make you sad, but it will also give you a sense of hope. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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