It really didn’t.

The David Archuletta concert, when I was able to notice how much he drank and told my mom that instead of telling her about the concert.

I didn’t know what it was, so I kind of just expected him to be gone. I really had no expectations at that point being so young. We visited him all the time.

I really didn’t understand rehab or the disease enough to believe in it or not.

At the point where he would have needed forgiving I didn’t realize it was a bad thing, and he hid it well.

I think just being at the rehab and visiting him daily reminded him why he started the recovery process in the first place. Now talking about it, the more he talks about it when teaching us, the more he is encouraged to stay sober.

I don’t drink or do drugs ever, never drink anything at a party. If someone is peer-pressuring me, I have to tell them sorry I am allergic to drugs and alcohol.

I really want people to be able to learn from what happened to me because I am sure most people lack the knowledge we do and how to prevent it. And since I was a kid when writing it, I want kids to know they can get help somewhere and they are not alone.

Yes, because this is something not a lot of them know about me.

I would tell them to first tell someone you trust because you shouldn’t be doing this stuff alone. Be patient and don’t let your parent influence you. If you have patience, you can deal with the situation and become knowledgeable about the disease and learn from your parent’s example of what not to be like.

Prevention. They will learn to prevent the gene from turning on and avoid ending up like their parent. And that they are not alone.

That addiction is not something to be ashamed of. It should be discussed openly in families as much as other allergies. I also hope there are children, including mine, that are able to avoid the disease instead of fighting to control it, with the knowledge in this book.