Book excerpt: During childhood, we are unaware of the power we have to change someone's life. That sometimes, we as children need to take matters into our own hands to save someone we love. On January 18, 1976, I saved two people. I saved my mother (an alcoholic) and I saved myself. A few weeks before that night, a guardian angel gave me a glimpse into how our lives could be if she would just stop drinking. From the age of five until the age of ten, our roles were reversed. I was the adult and she was the child and after that night, the tides began to turn and our new relationship had begun.