We are a family that has personally lived through the devastation of what drugs and alcohol can do to a loved one.  We watched our son, Tyler, a bright, energetic, fun loving kid dissolve in front of our into a drug addict at the age of 16.

I was mad that my family was falling apart and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.  I didn’t realize that alcohol and drugs had taken over my son’s life.  It was devastating to watch Tyler cross the line into addiction where he no longer had the power to choose.

It wasn’t until we were told that we had to change, as a family,  that we are able to get Tyler the help that he desperately needed.

Why did we have to change as family?  Because if nothing changes, nothing will change.

We knew something was very wrong in our middle son's life, but we couldn't find the answer.  Was it acting out after several friends' unexpected deaths in three short months?  Was it bad friends, bad choices, rebellion, depression, personality traits or a combination?  After we tried everything we knew to do over ten years, a young friend told us that Ted's drug use was not recreational, it was much more than we imagined.   Today Ted has been drug free for two years, while working a vigorous recovery and experiencing life as it should be. Our family is whole again.  Many others are not so fortunate.

We wish we had understood addiction. I want other parents to see the red flags, be savvy and not deny, and have the tools and resources I lacked.  I thought I knew about alcohol and other drugs.  I didn't.

Paul Raddatz is a parent speaker for Your Choice. Paul joined Your Choice in 2009 to help educate parents about the effects of drugs and alcohol. Paul's daughter, Ali Raddatz, died on February 21st, after taking a prescription painkiller while drinking alcohol.  She was only 18.  Ali Raddatz graduated with honors from Kettle Moraine High School, was a business major, and planned to design eco-friendly homes for a living.  Paul describes his daughter as "a bright, energetic, hard working lady.  From all outward appearances, you would have never thought anything like this was going on."

Paul's mission today is to empower our youth and parents. He says, "The best day of your life is the day you understand that you are empowered to make choices for living a healthy and happy life. Once we harness the inner strength of empowerment we can also use it to inspire others who might need help. That is really the ultimate goal of Your Choice, to help educate our children (and in many cases their parents) for the sake of empowering them to make the right choices to help them live a healthy and happy lifestyle."

We are a family that kept both of our children active and involved with various sports and activities but, as our son grew into his teen years, he became less and less involved in sports and more and more involved with friends.  We thought he was "spreading his wings" and developing into his own person. He wasn't a trouble maker and never really challenged the boundaries we set for him. We totally missed the signs of his drug use.  One day, near the end of his teen years, he came to us asking for help, explaining that he was afraid he was addicted to drugs.  We panicked; we searched and we turned to several available sources looking for options that we were certain had to be the answer, only to find that those options didn't work and ultimately, his use continued.  It wasn't until we almost lost him that we connected with Your Choice-Live and the Addiction Resource Council.  Our son is now turning his life around and has completed an intensive program of rehabilitation.  We don't know what the future will bring for our son and our family but, it looks promising as we now see the happy, self assured adult person we were always hoping our son would become.  If it wasn't for the Your Choice - Live and Addiction Resource Council, we might still be floundering, looking for answers only to hit dead ends.  We have been there. We understand and we want to give others help, hope, options and the support that we didn't have as well as equip parents with tools to recognize and prevent drug use.