ask yourself: Is this the life I want my child to have or my family to deal with? Or will I take the steps to understand this disease and know the warning signs.

Substance Use Disorder (SUD), according to the National Institute of Mental Health, is a "treatable mental disorder that affects a person's brain and behavior, leading to their inability to control their use of substances like legal or illegal drugs, alcohol, or medications." In simple terms, it's addiction.

My name is Gary, and I'm going to take you on the journey of my family as we faced the world of SUD with our son, Eric Michael. There are hundreds of thousands of deaths that have occurred since the opioid epidemic started in the late 1990's, and it doesn't only affect the person battling SUD.

I was not prepared for a world that involved SUD; most people aren't, because we all think, "It won't happen to me or my family." When my wife, Marlene, and I found out our son was struggling every day just to feel "normal", we found we were in over our heads. What started off as trying to control and shame our son to get him back on track turned into respecting him as a person and setting boundaries. How, you ask? It took years of educating, not educating Eric, but educating ourselves. From support groups, to faith, to opening our ears and listening to our son. We learned how to navigate life with SUD and more importantly, how to continue living after tragedy hit our home.

Whether you are a parent just learning that a loved one has SUD, or maybe you just want to be prepared for what life might bring, this book is for you. If this book helps others on their journey, saves one life or one family from feeling what we felt over a decade, then my goal is fulfilled.