Addiction not only affects the user, but it also ends up being a nightmare for their loved ones.

While the stranglehold of addiction can be extremely tough to break, Michael Machay offers proof that it can be done.Machay, a recovering addict, spoke about his addiction’s effect on his family and the recovery process Monday as STEP-Up Tamaqua sponsored a “Night of Hope.”A crowd of about 40 attended the function held at Trinity Founders Hall in Tamaqua.“I am an addict,” said Machay, 30.Machay said he grew up in Tuscarora in what he described as a normal family, with two brothers, his parents, and his grandma and great-grandma, who lived with them.“I wasn’t exposed to alcohol and drugs as a kid,” Machay said. “It was not done in my household.”Growing up, Machay said he always felt as if there was something different about him, and admitted to being a “people pleaser.”“By middle school, I’m already smoking pot,” he said. “By 15, I was in my first rehab.”Machay spoke highly of his grandmother, who would routinely give him money that he would use to feed his addiction.“The family, they get sicker than we do,” said Machay, who also suffers from a chemical imbalance.Eventually, Machay said he tried his drug of choice, heroin.“I was in and out of rehabs,” he said. “It’s not what I wanted; I wasn’t ready yet.”Over time, Machay said his grandmother moved back in with his father, with the stipulation that she would do so only if Machay could live there as well.“Besides my real mother, that lady was my mom,” he said.Over time, Machay said he realized his disease was affecting people.“I’ve done some things I never ever in my life thought I would do,” he said.Machay said he was able to say goodbye to his grandmother before she eventually passed away.Two weeks after she passed, Machay said his brother took his own life.“He suffered from the disease as well,” he said. “He called me four days before he did it.”That was the first time Machay said he saw his parents in two years.“I robbed them of their life, period,” he said. “Everybody thinks I’m the victim, and I’m not the victim.”Now, Machay is an active member of Safer Streets for Tamaqua’s Little Feet.“To be able to be accountable is amazing,” he said.Machay stressed that programs are available for addicts.“If you have a loved one that’s suffering, there is help out there,” he said. “You cannot enable your loved one.”Machay, who lives in Tuscarora, said he has been sober for 11 months.