Who Knew?

I knew when I married my husband that his family had a full boatload of people with various addictions. Gambling, illegal drugs, presriction drugs...to name a few. His sister began abusing drugs at age 12, his mom had a filing cabinet full of Rx bottles of all kinds. We were high school sweethearts and so even though I knew all of this I truly didn't consider the potential for the children he would father following the same path. As our kids got older we did tell them they were more at risk for addictin given the family history, as a means of (hopefully) deterring them from ever trying anything.
On the flip side, my family has no history of drug abuse. I have never tried any illegal drug. Not so much from a goody 2 shoes angle, but because I felt like if I tried something and it made me feel as fantastic as I had heard, I would want more and would face a possible problem.
I do not regret having my kids with this man. They are wonderful. Our marriage ended due to his dependence on prescription pain meds for lower back pain and spinal degeneration (yes, I see the irony). The long term effects of these drugs literally changed his brain and his personality to the point where he is a different person than who I knew all those years. While the divorce was difficult it was absolutely the lesser of 2 awful choices. Staying with him would have meant our entire family being miserable and walking on eggshells 24/7 indefinitely.
I don't blame him, but I do think his current use plays into our son's use (not to mention that he was stealing pills from his dad for awhile. Now they are locked in a safe). I do wonder sometimes though how much of that genetic predisposition is a factor in everything.
So yes, this was "rambling". Just spilling some thoughts onto the keyboard and out of my head.