It's sad watching my niece change, as she deals with my brothers cocaine addiction slowly overtake him. I've been in her place before, but instead of with my dad I watched my mother lose herself to drugs. She chose them over me. So, my 10 year old niece is quieter now, the way I used to be. 8 years ago, I was just like her. And I'm going to have to take her off secretly and talk to her about how her Daddys problem doesn't make her any less of a human, and that it actually makes her stronger as a woman for having lived through it. So today, as sad as I am, I am glad to have lived through what I have, so that I can teach the little girl who looks just like me, not to grow up too fast.