For those readers who doubt the effect an effect an addicted parent had on the children, try this poem on for size. It was written by a 13 year old child with a lot of talent, but in a great deal of pain. It was published in this column four years ago!

ATHE MOMMY@ by K.O. (An eighth grader)

AShe promises... She swears.. She would never dare take another drink.

She promises.. She swears.. She will never again mess up.

She drink... But she needs to hide... So she send her kids outside..

They play and play.... while she drinks and drinks... She wonders what they will think.

She promises.. She swears.. As her life draws to an end...

Death is just around the bend.

One last sip.. On her death bed.

One last sip..... And then she was dead.@

This youngster was really hurting.. 28 million American have been or are being raised in homes with active parental addiction. 7 million American have been or are being raised in homes with active parental addiction. 7 million, or 1-in-5 of our nations kids under the age of 18 live in households with at least one alcoholic parent. That=s a lost of people... most of whom spend a lifetime, never seeking relief from the resultant emotional pain.

I advised K.O. that there was help out there: Alanon and Adult Children of Alcoholics

(ACOA) groups for grownups and Alateen or Alatot for those, like herself, who are under 18. I suggested that she or her father call Ala-Call-Alcoholism Help (1-800-322-5525) for a meeting list and if she needed professional help, I would guide her to a suitable family oriented resource.

Last week, my wife and I received the following note from her dad: AI thought you would like to see the latest in K=s life... a sort of before and after in conjunction with her 1995 poem..... she is on the Honor Roll and applying to colleges. This is a true gift from Hod to me and to her. She is a new and happy person. Thank you for all that you have done.@

For readers who may doubt whether treatment works, read her latest essay:

AWhen a baby takes its first steps to get to. It goes back to a certain day. A day that report cards came in the mail.

AMy mom always knew exactly how to ruin a peaceful summer=s midmorning. She did an excellent hon that day. I rolled over and it hurt to open my eyes to the glaring sun. I knew that this would be a rough day. My report card was here and , although I had tried incredibly hard and put all my effort into receiving the grades that would make me proud, I had a gut wrenching feeling that the outcome would be awful.

AI sat up in bed, asked about the weather...what was going on that day.. Anything that would delay the moment of impact from arriving. Then it happened. My mothers mouth opened

so wide I thought I could see her tonsils. I shut my eyes and held my breath. I tried to imagine time stopping, and prayed that it really would. I felt the impact of something heavy on my bed.

AI peeked, ready to get one last glimpse of daylight before my lights were turned out for good...just enough to notice that my mom was jumping up and down on my bed. I opened my eyes all the way and saw them... The grades I dreamed about, the grades my father was confident that I would get, even though I felt that I couldn=t. They were there, in front of me, on the fourth marking period report with my name on it. I knew that I had earned them...finally.

As I learned to take the first steps of a new life as a person with A.D.D. in my junior year in high school, I felt that the world was stopping to watch. And, as I was learning to speak my first works as a new person. I felt like they were stopping to watch me. And from that day forward, as I continued to find out more and more about being the better, more dedicated, person that I had always wanted to be, I knew that if the whole world was not watching, at least, it felt like it was. I was proud and I knew that I would end up where I wanted to be, helping kids like me, teaching them to believe in themselves, and being proud of each and every one of them.@

Treatment does work folds, you had better believe it!!!