Dakota Andrew Price

Dakota was the love of my life. Dakota had struggled with heroin addiction for 10 years. His family and I all thought he could overcome this demon. This drug had a hold on him like no other. He hid the signs from us, and we all thought he was doing so much better. Dakota had been in and out of jail; and after getting out this last time in December, he swore he was going to get straight. He wasn’t in treatment. Maybe that’s something we should have encouraged him to get involved in.

Dakota could light up a room with his goofy grin and beautiful, kind soul. People were drawn to him and wanted to be friends with him. His family and I feel like this is a nightmare that we should wake up from any second, but we also don’t want his death to be in vain. We want to help encourage other families to support their loved ones with addiction issues and encourage them to seek the help they need.

In his final days, he was happy. We were making plans for the future. We were always together and doing fun things together. I try to hold these memories in my heart, where they will live forever.