My second friend in two years just lost a twenty-something son to an overdose. The young man in question was absolutely a delight, a big teddy bear of a guy that I had known since he was a tiny baby. He fought bravely for a long time with lots of support from his family, including his mother, a woman of no small heart.

In honor of that young man, I’m reposting a blog entry from another mother, Terri Lynne Defino–she lost her son Chris to an overdose in 2015. He, too, was an amazing young man, one that I never had the good fortune to meet. His mother, who happens to be a writer, is also a woman of no small heart, and this post was her “battle cry” after she lost Chris.

All of us need to work harder against the myths that she writes about.