Help Me Find My Brother

Help Me Find My Brother is a memoir about Maria Colavita’s relationship with her brother Angelo. It details the journey she and her parents endured as they discovered the person he had become and uncovered his years of self-destructive, addictive behavior and the resulting tragic accidents.

Growing up in an Italian American house, Maria and Angelo’s loving parents worked hard to provide many good opportunities for their children. Maria enjoyed the brighter opportunities that came her way; but struggled to understand why Angelo chose the darker path of life.

Her fun loving, intelligent brother was lost to the world of drug addiction. Maria has worked for the past 40 years to help Angelo; trying to steer him toward a life with a brighter future. She’s shared her story of how an ordinary traditional family with old school values understood and handled their lost son and brother.

Help Me Find My Brother is Maria’s attempt to understand the difference between Angelo’s drug addict lifestyle and his traumatic brain injuries and mental illness. While she may not have gotten her fun-loving brother back, she became a much better sister and daughter because of this journey.



About the Author



Maria A. Colavita is simply a sister who was searching for the brother she once knew and loved. Along the way, she found the courage to tell her story – the story of the dark world of drug addiction and brain damage.

Help Me Find My Brother is the raw story of a loving family who understood nothing about their loved one’s condition, but persevered through many harrowing experiences to bring him back to the living. They soon discovered they were not the only family dealing with these tragic events.

There is no discrimination in the dark world of addiction.