Her dad could weld, fish and water ski. He could dance in circles across the living room with his beautiful little girl on his toes. He could throw her in the air and catch her in his arms as she giggled. He was her knight in shining armor. Her big, strong dad. He would slay any dragon for her, until that dragon presented itself as Oxycontin.
 I watched single handedly as this man became a shell of himself. Someone else. Someone who lost interest in everything in his life, including that beautiful little girl. I remember watching them one summer evening when she was only three. She was running around the yard, he was chasing her. The sun had begun to set and their faces were illuminated with the warmest shade of orange. The laughter filled the air and permeated my very soul. Then, almost overnight, it began. Had I known that was the last time this man would bring any joy to our lives, had I known the pain we were about to endure, I would have scooped up that little girl and run from it all, as far away as possible.
  He began using Oxy for a shoulder injury. It was prescribed and at first I would have never thought this prescription would cover the very demise of everything in his life. Back then Oxycontin was just beginning its tour. Not many knew the high addiction rate. Not many understood that it was fast becoming the most dangerous drug being abused. Nobody knew. Well, I didn't. So many things happened over the next few years that you would think a rational, intelligent adult would see a problem mounting. I did not. I saw small things here and there. Things that never made sense, until, of course, he offered
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his explanation and then they made perfect sense. I learned back then that a drug addict is a great liar. And who better than to lie to than a person who is so desperate to latch on to any explanation that dismisses the scariest explanation of them all? He's an addict.
  Over then next couple of years, I watched, closely, with my eyes shut, if that makes sense.
  He lost weight. His job. His life. Lying in bed, days at a time. Jewelry and money started to disappear. He started to disappear. "It's my anxiety medication," "I have a stomach bug," "What do you mean it's Christmas? I can't get up and see her open her presents," "My eyes are fine," and "It's your imagination."
  He went from playing with his daughter, to stealing from her and I. He no longer read her bedtime stories or chased her around the yard. Instead he chased us right out of his life.
  I finally figured this out when my child was five. Following an overdue bill arriving, he left the house and was arrested attempting to forge a prescription for yet more death in a bottle. He went to jail and that was the end. I had to really see now and see I did. After searching my home I discovered what was too many empty pill bottles to count. I found needles, hidden in his briefcase, I found pawn receipts, urine-stained clothing, but what I never did find, to this day, was the pieces of his daughter's soul that he and this pill destroyed. Her gentle playful spirit became and remains one of apprehension and anxiety. Sadness. I thought at the time that things could not possibly get worse.
  Then on yet another warm summer day in 2003, he lost his final battle, the dragon won - he was dead. His already tired heart had enough. And now I had to tell this beautiful little girl that her knight in shining armor was gone. Forever. There will never be pain greater in my life than the day I held my 10-year-old child as she screamed for her dad. Tears rolling down her cheeks, "Please, Mom get him back." There will never, ever be a moment in my life that I will understand why so many people are letting this dragon into their lives. This dragon breathes the fire of death one way or another and believe me, he is impossible to
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slay.
  This growing epidemic is leading to an enormous population of children who lose their parents as well as parents who lose their children. It knows no boundaries. It is killing at an unbelievable rate. My heart goes out to all the mothers, fathers, children and families who are suffering at the hand of this. I truly hope one day your outcome will be different than mine. I hope the teenagers in the world understand that this dragon is looking for them, too. Be stronger. Run, don't walk. Look in the mirror every day and realize that you are worth it.
  He left this Earth taking with him all that could have been for the beautiful little girl. He took from her one very important thing, that no matter what, cannot be replaced in her eyes. He took away her daddy. I want to ask him someday why he could not have fought a little bit harder, a little bit longer. Why he could not recall the moments when life was happy and good and try to get them back. Maybe one day I will have the chance. For now I take comfort in the thought that he is past his addiction, but I will continue to be tormented by the scars left in my child's life. In her baby book he wrote "I know I will have to protect you from all the boys you bring home because no one is good enough for my little girl" - unfortunately, he will never have the chance.
  I, on the other hand, will hold on with both hands to my beautiful little girl, as she grows older and more aware of the missing part of her soul. I will fight until the day my life is over to keep her safe and make sure she knows how loved she is. I may not be the knight in shining armor, but I can assure you, a mother's love is far stronger than that of any dragon.