FLAME EXTINGUISHED TOO SOON

Attending a shiva (Jewish ritual service during the mourning period) for a beautiful sister of 2 of my children's childhood friends was definitely not on my radar for this visit down South. 

But dear Meredith will not be celebrating her 35th birthday. 
After a sledding accident 8 years ago with prescription drugs to alleviate severe back pain, the path to addiction began, and ended with the use of heroin.  Her obituary shares the story of the demons which haunted this bright, beautiful registered nurse and the fight to conquer them. Rehab, relapses, more rehab and relapses. Meredith died of an overdose this past Wednesday.

Opioid addiction doesn't discriminate re: gender, age, religion, race nor social class. The most recent study I could find was from the American Society of Addiction Studies 2016 findings.

• Women are more likely to have chronic pain, be prescribed prescription pain relievers, be given higher doses, and use them for longer time periods than men. Women may become dependent on prescription pain relievers more quickly than men.
• 48,000 women died of prescription pain reliever overdoses between 1999 and 2010.
• Prescription pain reliever overdose deaths among women increased more than 400% from 1999 to 2010, compared to 237% among men.
• Heroin overdose deaths among women have tripled in the last few years. From 2010 through 2013, female heroin overdoses increased from 0.4 to 1.2 per 100,000."

I as many expectant Moms prayed for healthy babies with 10 toes and 10 fingers. We didn't foresee a world which might cut their gifts short nor extinguish a flame as bright as Meredith's. 

May Meredith's memory and the memory of way too many others be a blessing. We that knew you will miss you and send our love to all your family,  friends and community...