I watched my mother die from addiction. She went from a beautiful funny woman to someone unrecognizable. Watching her disease was not fun. Watching her fall to pieces and living in a home with an addict is part of the reason I decided to seek recovery. I did not want my life to be like hers. I’ve learned through my recovery – sometimes all I can be is a supportive friend. The addict will not find help unless they are ready to receive recovery. When they are sick and tired they will seek recovery. There will be some relapses. Unfortunately, some people do not find recovery. Through it all we need to take care of ourselves first – then we can be present if they truly need help. That includes letting them fall or pass on to another life.

Addiction

“YES! My light is inside you now, cleaning the addiction from your cells…” - Dagger*

Tandy Bowen born in the privilege world of wealth and popularity runs away from home because her wealthy and popular mother refuses to give her the attention a 16-year-old girl needs and wants. While in NYC she meets Tyrone “Ty” Johnson a runaway from Boston, Massachusetts. The two develop a strong and surrogate family. Through a series of events Ty and Tandy are kidnapped and experimented on by criminal chemist Simon Marshal, who is developing a new type of street heroin. The illegal drug is tested on runaways. Unbeknownst to Ty and Tandy, they are mutants and their abilities are awakened by the drug. Ty, taking the name Cloak, can teleport and become intangible, but letting villains pass through his teleporting field (which is his cloak) they encounter the “darkforce” which frightens them or in some cases sucks their “lifeforce”. Tandy, taking the name Dagger, can generate light that can harm or heal. Her daggers can also purge drugs from peoples’ bodies. Together they protect runaways from the people who would prey upon the runaway or homeless.

Addiction is a terrible spiritual illness. The prolonged effects of addiction can begin to affect the emotions and the physical body. People die from addiction. The body, Physical Spiritual and Emotional, becomes unbalanced. There have been volumes of books written about addiction. It is a spiritual illness that manifests itself in the emotional and physical body. The information is encompassing to try to express here. There are great organizations to help with addiction. The cliché’ “white knuckling it” is a phrase important to a recovering addict. It explains an addict holding on to recovery until the knuckles are white. The hardest thing is watching an addict fall. We should let them fall and break – we cannot “fix” the addict. We can only be a friend, listen and talk. Help them find recovery. Being a spiritual malady there is no physical remedy – the sick person has got to find their own cure. Repeating, we can only be a friend, listen and talk.

Dagger
First Appearance: The Spectacular Spider-Man, #64 (March 1982), Marvel Comics

Creators: Bill Mantlo (writer) Ed Hannigan (art)

* “Cloak and Dagger”, #2, November 1983, Marvel Comics