The National Addiction Memorial honors the loved ones we’ve lost.

My son suffered from depression, alcoholism and drug addiction. His on and off girlfriend of over 20 years is crushed. He has a daughter who will be 8 this month who misses him a lot. They always had fun together.
He went to rehab for heroin and fentanyl addiction. He was never the same after that week. He saw a psychiatrist and was given meds for depression and sleeping pills because of nightmares due to the meds he was given in rehab.
He did not go back to heroin and thought he had everything figured out. He did really good for the first month and a half after he got out of rehab because we did not let him out of our sight. Then we had to let him go. He felt like a caged animal. We gave him his car and he promised he would be ok.
He started hanging around the same people again and ended up overdosing on fentanyl. The saddest part about it is he was with a girl that would not call 911. She called 3-4 friends asking what she should do. They all said call 911. She waited until he died to call. They will not prosecute her because she did eventually call.

She fought with everything she had, Amy never wanted to leave me alone. I love her with all my heart.

My sister Jimmie Jo was an amazing, wonderful woman. Very intelligent and beautiful. She could put a smile on your face no matter what. She would brighten up a room when she walked in. She was a very funny person.
Even though life knocked her down a lot she still carried a smile on her face. She was the best sister, daughter, aunt, and mother. She was very well known everywhere. She will never be forgotten.

My father was awesome and he will be forever missed. One thing about dad is he never passed judgment on anyone. And never turned his back on me. I was an addict in and out of jail and prison and my dad never turned his back on me. My father was an alcoholic, he drank everyday and if he didn't he was moody. For as long as I can remember my dad drank beer and jack Daniels. He went to rehab a few times but it never helped. My dad had just got out of rehab 6 months before he passed, but only because it was court ordered. He completed a 6 month program. And the day we picked him up the first thing he did was drink a beer. I loved my dad with all my heart. He was my best friend. I guess I didn't notice that he was sick and he never told me he was. I knew he had cirrhosis, I just felt it, 'cause how can a person drink everyday for almost 40 years and not. I just didn't expect him to go so soon. My father lived in Santa Fe and I live in Albuquerque. He would come back and forth for doctors visits, holidays and occasionally to visit, and I went to Santa Fe to visit as well. It was going on almost a month and I hadn't heard from my dad. I was calling and calling, having people go knock on his door and nothing. Finally I had to call the landlord to go in and check, and that's when my world collapsed. They told me they found him on the kitchen floor and I still to this day feel wish there was something I could have done to change it. When I drove out there and entered my fathers apartment there was blood everywhere like he bled out from the back. I really didn't understand. I thought someone hurt him. He was bleeding from his head as well. My dad was drunk when he started to bleed out from the back. He was losing a lot of blood and stumbling all over. He fell a couple of times, that caused the bleeding from his head. I tripped out cause there was so much blood. Apparently he got light headed from the loss of so much blood and that's what caused his stumbling and falling. It just breaks my heart cause I wasn't there and I didn't even get to say goodbye. On his death certificate it said the cause of death was due to massive ethanol consumption, which was due to his drinking. I just expected him to live forever.

First born child of my oldest daughter.
Grew up into a world of drugs that controlled him & his mind. An intelligent & interesting young man. Just got in with the wrong friends & thought it was the easy way. Drugs, jail & prison were his life for years. The demons haunted him.
He had made a choice to go straight & had so many plans. Had moved in with his Mom. Spent time with all of us. It was so great.
His fatal mistake was spending his time with old friends over the weekend.
As he planned his new life he took ONE LAST FIX OF HEROIN. For him life was over.
Our lives have changed forever. We were left with nothing but that empty question - WHY?? He was & will always be loved.
You never know when you will lose that special person, so love love & more love to those who mean the world to you. They are your world.
Gone but never to be forgotten.

He was a hard working father. Loved to play his violin. He was loved by many and touched many peoples' lives with his music. He will forever be missed but never forgotten.

Tommy was most known for his ability to easily and effortlessly make all those around him feel like they were the most important person in the room. He had a mischievous side that was superseded by his charm and wit and no matter what he had done or said he left you with a huge smile on your face. He had a passion for helping others and was a true champion of the underdog...whether it was someone being bullied or a kiddo with special needs...Tommy made sure they knew he had their back. Unlike the rest of us, Tommy never had an awkward moment. There was no place he went where he didn't fit in. He was a tremendous athlete and helped lead his high school lacrosse team to three state championships. He attended Ole Miss, and was prescribed 3 refills (90 pills) of hydrocodone after a wake boarding accident while away at school...the beginning of his ultimate demise. Most recently he had been living in Austin, Texas, had been in recovery for 8 months and relapsed on August 10, 2018. Fentanyl was at the top of his toxicology report. All who were fortunate enough to be touched by Tommy's light miss him dearly.

My sweet, loving daughter that I miss and love so much.

My niece Jessica was a gentle soul who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction from a young age. The tragedy of the loss of her life stays with us, and we hope to help to prevent tragedies in the future with our support of Shatterproof. This page, and our donation, are created in the names of her Aunt Judy, Aunt Joan, Uncle Doc, Aunt Jane, Aunt Laura, and Uncle Bert.

My precious son was such a loving, compassionate soul with a smile that could light up New York City!
He struggled for so long and tried with all his might to beat his demons.
He was a loving son, father, brother, and friend to everyone.
He will be forever missed.

My husband was a star athlete in high school, loved by all. At 16, he started smoking and then selling marijuana. It quickly escalated from there into prescription pills and a life of drug fueled crime. During this time, he had three amazing children and many times found recovery. However, recovery never stayed long before the demon of addiction crept up again. My husband struggled with addiction for 20 years and the majority to meth and heroin. Shortly before passing he was diagnosed with mental illnesses, which we were fighting the insurance company to pay for the medications, which we never got to get before his passing. My husband was an amazing man whose laughter and smile could light up a room. He was so highly intelligent and wanted nothing more than sobriety and to become a substance use counselor. However, in the early morning hours of October 22, 2019, Nathan lost his battle to addiction from fentanyl toxicity. Although he may have never overcame his addiction, Nathan was and will always be a light in our lives. He will be forever loved and missed.

Peggy was an amazing person who strived and achieved her dream of becoming a registered nurse. She was amazing and loved being of service to and caring for others. Peggy was a mother to three boys, she was a daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend. Sadly, Peggy inherited a disease known as alcoholism and addiction and her light burned out at the age of 35.

Our son, loved by all, took his own life for we can only assume his heart was too big for this world.

Tommy struggled with addiction on and off. He tried so hard to beat it and for a while he was doing so well. But unfortunately the trauma he had been through and his depression and anxiety caught up with him and he began to use again and overdosed. He always promised it would never be him, and I began to believe it. It came as such a shock when he passed away. Through it all, he had the biggest heart, no matter what he was going through he cared and worried about others. He loved his children more than anything. His family was also everything to him. He loved with all he had and I will never forget the love he showed me. He always knew how to light up the room with his contagious smile and laugh. Those dimples got me every time. He was taken from us far too soon and will forever be missed and loved by so many.

Ryan was the most loving, caring boy I knew! He was a hard worker and enjoyed life... at only 23 forever... he had a good life and was doing big things. I am beyond proud of him for whom he was and where he was going in life.

Son you are my best friend, my crutch, my secret keeper and so much more... I love and miss you more then I could ever express!

Best Son, brother, nephew, uncle, friend anyone could ask for

Curtis was with someone he thought was a friend. He was staying the night walking distance from our home and he (the so called friend) gave my son a lethal combination of drugs. He videotaped him for over five hours. Even posted video of him already gone before I or the EMT's arrived. Curtis was not your regular 17 year old in so many ways. He earned the family towing business being signed to him on his 18th birthday. He was my (his Mom) protector for many years, being a single mom to him and his brother, who are 18 years apart. He was an amazing uncle to his two nephews. His sister in law which he called sister was in his life from day one and he watched them get married before he was even 5. He helped and worked in family business since he could walk, he lived to drive and ride anything fast from 4-wheeler, his many dirt bikes, the last one being his YZ125 and he loved making his cars go faster and be louder. He just purchased his Duramax Truck, which was a dream for him but also because he loved helping his friends when their bikes broke down. He found his forever love when he was only 14 but he knew she was the one because he was ready to give her the ring on his 18th birthday. And they completed each other, his smile lit up a room and he could make you laugh even on your worse day. He was loved by so many friends that honored him daily. He had a very bright future and many dreams to make come true. A night at a friend's house cost him and us something that will never come back nor can be replaced. Not to mention receiving his high school diploma in June 2020 like he would have, get married, having kids and being an awesome dad. Getting his 350 z his grandad left him on road, helping his nanny around her house, making memories with friends, hunting with me since his granddad passed, which I loved being a part of, date night with Bree, cheering his nephews at games, giving his brother and sister a hard time, lol. His life was cut so short because of drugs and not by his choice!!!!

My daughter struggled with heroin addiction for nearly five years. She tried so hard to beat it. She loved life to the fullest! She loved her family. Her smile and laugh was continuously contagious.

My son struggled with addiction and depression. He tried to get better with our help and his belief in medicine. We believed he would always get better because that’s what he believed. He tried and tried, and things became more difficult. He became depressed and more alone. It was horrible because this was not our beautiful son. He was gifted musically, loving, caring, sensitive, artistic, and such a beautiful son. I try to remember the beauty in my son before his addictive ways. He always seemed to pull through. Our last Thanksgiving and Christmas he said was the best for him in many years. I am thankful for that and all the wonderful days we had together as he grew up. He cared more for others than he did for himself. He was a humanitarian in a true sense. He loved life and his friends and family truly. We will never be the same without him in this world. We are all heartbroken and miss him dearly. RIP BRADLEY

Cole was the brightest young man I have ever met. He helped me do CPR on one of his friends that had overdosed and promised me it would never happen to him. I sobbed uncontrollably begging him to not let it happen to him too. He promised me..... I know he wanted to live, he had so much to live for, and so many that loved him. I did not know him long, he was in rehab with my sons but I grew to love him and know he was a bright star that did not get to shine long enough!

My brother was/is an amazing person who will always be loved and missed by so many.