Trauma – Opiate Nation

ANNIVERSARIES: CELEBRATIONS & MEMORIALS

August 2, 2026

Anniversaries are remembered for a host of different reasons: they mark events that are special to us for one reason or another. Important milestones in our lives. They are milestones that we can look back upon and see from the vantage point of having traveled some distance, usually with at least one other person as in a wedding or new job or new child. Birthdays are a type of anniversary as we celebrate another year of living.

They are times of reflecting on the past year or years and a shared journey in life –as two people or as a community or as a nation. The word comes from the Latin annus meaning ‘year’ and vertere meaning ‘turn’ – the turning of the year. And these anniversaries can be either a celebration or a memorial or sometimes both.

Anniversaries are a time to connect with others, with loved ones or people who hold the event as important. We ponder our shared history and the things that make a day particularly significant to us together. Public holidays are anniversaries of victories or tragedies or rituals of common traditions and core values and beliefs. These times of remembering together are honoring what people did and they build and strengthen bonds of community and friendship and love.

August 2^nd, is the 12^th anniversary of our son, JL’s, death from a heroin overdose. As you can imagine, it is not an anniversary celebration but a memorial. Yet memorials hold many of the same characteristics as other anniversaries: reflection, a shared journey, and honoring a person.

For us, the anniversary of JL’s death is a time for us to reflect, once again, on our son as a child whom we loved and who died too soon. To remember how much his 25 years enriched our lives and the things we learned from him. To remember the things that made him a great friend to others like his loyalty and sense of humor and his love. And of course there are the sad memories of how the opioid epidemic of the 2000’s swept him and so many others into addictions that ruined their lives before they even had time to grow up and experience life as an adult.

Memorials can also cause us to look to the future with a new sense of purpose and direction as we adjust to life without our loved one. This particular ‘epidemic’ has caused many, many parents and loved ones to work tirelessly in various ways to try to prevent other families from going through the trauma of having a child addicted to something that ruins their lives. All the recent efforts from small ones to large national organizations are memorials that have grown out of the ashes of these lives.

August 31^st is the 25^th anniversary of International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD). For the millions of families and friends who lost their loved ones, it is an anniversary of remembering – a memorial for – all the accidental deaths of those who lost their lives in the greed-fueled scourge called the opioid epidemic.

Head to the new GIFT OF NEED YouTube channel and find podcasts with guests about addiction, drugs, trauma, grief. To hear our story, listen to Episodes #7 & #8.

https://www.youtube.com/@judedimegliotrang

Also, for information on IOAD and how you can help or find events:

International Overdose Awareness Day: 31 August

2021 International Overdose Awareness Day August 31

Translation into most languages at tab to the right.

The need has never been more urgent to alert us all to the risk of overdose facing millions of people worldwide. During the 18 months of the Covid-19 pandemic, overdose deaths have risen approximately 30% in many parts of the world due to isolation, unstable drug sources, and lack of reliable medical and recovery help. Even the normal inadequate support services have been seriously disrupted and diverted. And the hope of C19 disappearing sometime soon is now seen as wishful thinking – it is a new deadly virus we will have to learn how to live with.

So, what can we do to help prevent further loss of lives for those already struggling with addiction?

Connection is Crucial

(Translation into most languages is available to the right.)

During a recent podcast on Straight from the Source (1), David Higham (founder of The Well, a peer-run alcohol and other drug service in the northwest of England) spoke about his life.

For more than 20 years, David was a habitual heroin user more accustomed to life in prison than the outside world. He joined a 12-step program during his final stint. Upon release, he found that sustained well-being and recovery was rare and he knew he had to help change that. What interested me most from his story was this insight:

“Drug treatment is trying to find a solution for my solution…But what’s the solution for my problem?”

Stories: Common Threads

(Thirty-second in a series of topical blogs based on chapter by chapter excerpts from Opiate Nation. Translation into most languages is available to the right.)

During the years since our son died, we have been encouraged and supported by his friends –many of whom have awe-inspiring recovery stories. We asked several of them to share their stories in Opiate Nation with the hope that they will give insights for parents and encourage other young adults to know they can be sober and have a meaningful life full of joy, love, and hope.

What we learned from these stories – and from the many stories we have heard in recovery meetings, in the news, and in books – is that there are some common threads that run through the lives of people struggling with addictions. And although there are no formulas for raising kids who will not use drugs or abuse alcohol, becoming aware of the common threads and risk factors in families with addiction and alcoholism is a good place for parents to start. If these commonalities are understood and taken into consideration, they might help avert tragedies such as the one we experienced.

I have written about each of these threads in separate chapters of Opiate Nation, but I will summarize them here: