The Pain Keeps Coming!

 Just when you think the pain 'might' be manageable

Just when you think you could breathe a little

WHAM!

A letter comes.
It says the person who sold our son fentanyl, disguised as heroin, is being released from jail. They have served their time.

OH YEAH? Our serving our time with our grief NEVER ENDS!
The ambushing waves of grief never stop! Never fade! 

Always hurt!      Always Hurt!      Always Hurt!

Leigh and I pray those who are selling drugs - KILLING PEOPLE SLOWLY - would find another line of work, another business. 

We cannot find an end to our pain, our grief, the anticipation of no new memories, and the pain of holding onto memories! The grief we feel NEVER ENDS.

Mail, Mail, and More Mail

 Today the mailman delivered another letter; another letter addressed to Mark. Each time a new piece of correspondence comes for him, the wound is reopened, the scars cut new, fresh blood flows, and the cycle repeats itself - over and over and over. 

Fines owed for traffic tickets, monies owed on utility bills, and other unsettled debts are more than prevalent with someone who has a substance use disorder - this isn't news for anyone who has lived with this person. 

Grief becomes more and more compounded as each new inquiry, letter, or collection threat comes in the daily mail. Letters sent back in reply about our loved ones passing go unacknowledged, and then more letters arrived. The cycle continues in the world of depersonalized automation where 'systems' do not connect and data is just not updated. 

Just how long will this continue?

Missing Angels

 Missing Angels 

Leigh and I have been on this grief journey since June 1, 2019, the day our son Mark passed from a substance use overdose. There have been times when we were angry, sad, frustrated, and depressed - sometimes separately, sometimes all at once. 

There are so many others who have shared this experience, and too many who are, and sadly will. This madness of the opioid epidemic has to stop! 

Orleans Recovery - Hope Begins Here offered 'Missing Angels' as a program to help those coping with grief from a substance use passing. Orleans Recovery has approved our continuing this program as an outreach to the citizens of Orleans County, Genesee County, Western Monroe County, and Eastern Niagara County in Western New York. We are happy to do this, to be A Voice For Mark, in this continuing struggle. 

Missing Angels meets twice a month, once in an online meeting, and then in-person. We welcome any and all who have gone through this horrible experience of living with, and losing, a loved one who has suffered with, and died from a substance use disorder. 

Please contact Leigh and I for details on where and when we hold the meetings. You are not alone in this.