Editor's note

In a five-day series the Tucson Citizen will take readers through the devastation that occurs when addiction and parenting collide. Some of the stories are painful to read. They offer a glimpse into the vicious culture of addiction, and the impact on the children left to suffer. Citizen reporters Gabrielle Fimbres and Joyesha Chesnick and photographer Norma Jean Gargasz spent seven months chronicalling the hopes, the fears and the failures of families trying to break the hold of addiction.

Day One: Generations wrecked

Day Two: 'All or nothing, live or die'

Day Three: Picking up the pieces

Day Four: Basic tasks of parenting often land in teachers' laps

Day Five: Cutting the ties to addiction

Feb. 25, 2005 Tucson mother takes control of her formerly drug-laced life

Images: Anissa Fields, one year later