I can relate to Heather when she wrote about her addictive mother in the article "Coping With an Addicted Parent" because I, too had an addicted mother, but instead of alcohol it was drugs. As much as i did not want to leave my mother alone, i also had to " decide whether staying with my own mother was safe" I know my mother would never hurt me but i wasn't too sure if I was safe around the people who came and went every now and then. When Heather talks about the " Sober Test" she had to give her mom before driving, that hit me hard because i understood fully. Instead of my mom driving, she would forget i was at school. Thank you Heather for bringing awareness to this problem . Any person with any relation to Heather's situation will appreciate her drawing attention as much as i do.