The Story
In 2005, David wrote an essay for The New York Times chronicling his son Nic's addiction. The powerful essay tells the story of a bright young man whose parents divorced when he was just 4. David and his first wife shared custody of their son, and by all accounts it seemed that Nic flourished. He was a top student throughout his younger years, he played sports, and he wrote for the school paper. David even notes that Nic showed early confidence beyond his years when kids tried to tease him at school for wearing tights. However, by the time Nic was 12, David discovered marijuana in his son's bag.
By the time he was 14, Nic had received a one-day suspension for buying marijuana on his high school campus. He continued to excel at school, but his road to addiction escalated with the introduction of meth. From that point on, David, his wife, and his ex-wife all worked to get Nic into treatment even as he continued to use, disappear, and sometimes steal from his younger siblings. Through it all, David never gave up on his son or stopped coming when he called. By 2005, Nic was sober, after a number of relapses, and his father's story "My Addicted Son" appeared in the Times.