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

Michael tried drinking at the age of 15 and very quickly it became obvious he had a problem. Everything he did with alcohol or drugs was always excessive. He went to inpatient treatment the first time at the age of 20. He spent the next 6 years having periods of sobriety and relapses. His longest sober time was 11 months. After that, the sober times became shorter and less frequent. He spent more time in treatment and in jail. He held down jobs for awhile and then would lose them. He continued to try to regain his sobriety, but he ran out of time on September 8, 2013 when he died from an overdose.

Mike was diagnosed bipolar at the age of 17 however the symptoms began very early in his life. It started with pot and escalated to the pills that all his friends were taking. It seems to me that the drugs prescribed for ADD were speed and the children were selling them to each other.

His addiction was so fast. It took over his life and took his life in just a few years. It started with a sports injury and the lovely introduction of pain killers. It is the same heart breaking story over and over. He started smoking pot daily, all day. He did whatever it took to get money for the pain killers. Eventually he was introduced to heroin and the price was right. There was no going back after that. Snorting lead to shooting and that lead to a quick, insane death. He is now another statistic and the family is has a huge, irreplaceable hole.

Mike became dependent on opioids after a knee operation, but was prone to abuse, as his mother had died of an overdose a few years before. He was about to enter his third rehab when he went to a friend's house for 'one more party', but overdosed that night and never woke up.

In college he began using prescription drugs which eventually escalated to heroin. After almost 15 years fighting it he was finally turning his life around. Relapsed one night and overdosed.

He struggled with drug addition since he was 14 years old. He started with pot and it grew from there. He went through rehab,a halfway house and even prison boot camp. At times he would do so good and really seem like he was going to make it, but something would happen that would throw him into depression again. It finally over took him and died 60 days ago tonight.

Mavin had an addication to herion. He fought his addication To herion for over 10 years. He hated the drug life. Tried many times to get clean but lost the battle.

As with most stories, it's hard to pinpoint when Mark's struggle began. Mark struggled with his health the entirety of his life - one issue after another. To sit down and really remember what all he had to deal with physically, is extremely heartbreaking. Knowing he had to tolerate so many physical issues daily, is exhausting, yet you would have never known just looking at him. Mark was pretty heavy into marijuanna in high school and a list of other typical drugs you'd see in his hometown. But, when we met he was an occasional drinker with a laundry list of medical conditions that led to a massive bowel surgery just 4 months before we met. Fast forward 2 years - Mark came to his mother and I, describing his feelings of addiction to his pain pills that he was being prescribed before during and after multiple bowel obstructions, another bowel surgery and an aneurysm correction/surgery. He immediately left for rehab after his confession. It was a relief to Mark's mother and I when he confessed because we knew he was acting differently but could have never imagined what Mark was struggling with. The next two years of our lives are such a whirlwind, it's hard to remember the order of events... Almost two years to the month that Mark came to his mother and I, to open up about his struggle, he died of a heroin overdose in a hotel room a mile from our home. Three rehabs, one intervention, tons of counseling (family and separate), hundreds of NA and Nar-Anon meetings, suboxone, guilt, bribing, loving, caring, talking, tough-love, begging, praying, threatening, and bargaining could not rid Mark of his addiction. He wanted to live a sober, long life with Maxwell, I and our families but heroin had a different plan for us all. There is still so much we don't understand about addiction but I do know this. I'm proud of my husband - I'm not ashamed or embarrassed, but he died full of shame, and guilt. This must change, our hearts must be opened.

After suffering with low self esteem in school, in his grade 12 year Lucas finally made friends and began making the wrong choices. We also lost our father that year, which sent Lucas on a downward spiral he couldn't get out of. No matter how hard he fought. Lucas struggled for years with OxyContin which eventually led to harsher street drugs. He had made the brave step of going to rehab, and was doing extremely well. After receiving Tylenol 3 from the dentist for having teeth extracted Lucas relapsed and within 7 days, he lost his life. Due to fentanyl.

Traumatized as a child, Lindsay started smoking pot & drinking in junior high as a way to numb her emotional pain. She was in and out of rehab for years, and chose relationships with addicted and abusive men which reinforced her belief that she had no value. She stayed clean for the longest period when she fought to regain custody of her daughter. Even so, she eventually became an IV opiate addict. Less than a week after completing yet another 30-day rehab, she overdosed on Fentanyl.

Lex was fighting his addiction for a long time, and I think often felt helpless to it. There weren't enough resources made available. It felt like to get quality care while not being financially privileged was impossible. People who could have helped him chose to judge him instead, because writing someone off as being "different" is easier than accepting that addiction can and does happen to any of us. It wasn't that he didn't want to quit, it was that he didn't know how and didn't know that happiness could be found in sobriety. There were so many options I wish I'd known about earlier, like naltrexone and a committed therapist, that I believe could have saved his life.

Leo was involved in sports and doing well in scholl. Leo started using Marijuana at the age of 15 years. Leo then started to have trouble in school with his schoolwork and he did not want to continue in school. Leo had issues with then Heroin as well as prescription opiates. Leo was like a Jekyl and Hyde on drugs and he was angry with outbursts more frequently, Leo denied that he needed help but he alwys said I know I have a problem but he would not let us take him for treatment , how many times he was driven to the hospital but would not go in. He did go for counseling when he was younger because he was angry but he would not tell anyone why. I feel Leo suffered from Depression. Leo had been clean 1 year before he relapsed and overdosed. leo had gotten into trouble the night before as he was setup by his friend. I can still remember his last phone call and he did not want to let anyone down. i reminded him how much we all loved him and would support him. I also told him that others would understand and help him. I said that he needed to be here for the boys. that was the last time I talked to him until the phone call the next morning that they could not wake him up for his community service job.

This is so hard for me to talk about.

My sister had five children and she loved them dearly, thought about them 24/7, but her addiction got the best of her so she lost contact with all her babies, she was also very distant from my mom and I we tried helping her so many times but she never wanted it! Heroin had a very strong hold on her. All she wanted was that drug and all we wanted was our loved one back, but we already knew that she was not coming back-- it was too late.

It went on since she was a lot younger

My 28 year son Kyle wasn't addicted to drugs. He took great pride living a healthy lifestyle.He chose to drive after a couple beers while on a medication,extremely overtired. However (buzzed) driving is still a reckless, dangerous decision. He had a serious accident and was almost killed. He suffered a brain injury as well a downward spiral of events financially that put a strain on him. He was a proud man and feared being labeled as a drunk due to stigma. It's very black and white with hospitals/Dr's treating you and find alcohol in your blood. Whether a point over legal limit "as his" was,even legal repercussions follow as though your a hardcore alcoholic. One bad decision caused him much guilt and shame for fear of being judged. He swore to never drink and drive again. One year later he was very stressed out drank again while on several medications due to his prior injuries,his judgement was impaired and he drove again, speeding with no seatbelt. He did not survive this time. The medical community had automatically put him a category that is demeaning in nature, instead of grouping people they should be treating each person as an individual.

He struggled with addiction long before we ever knew there was a problem. By the time we discovered there was a problem, it was too late. We did everything in our power to help him beat it, but it had such a hold on him, there was nothing anyone could do, not even him, no matter how hard we or he tried, nothing worked. He developed Osteomyelitis, from dirty dope and was misdiagnosed at a local hospital, which caused 3 vertebrae to shatter and a kyphotic angulation to form, which meant even after reconstructive surgery, he was going to be disabled for life. He was put on iv antibiotics, for a year, to take care of the infection in his bones, before they could do any surgery. In the meantime, he was on an extensive amount of a multitude of painkillers. He was a week away from having the surgery, when his organs began shutting down. he died from sepsis and multiple organ failure.

Kodyes struggles began from about 13 years old. What began with some weed somehow ended with addictions to prescription pills and heroine. I know she wanted to give up. But the addiction beat her.

Kirby began abusing alcohol, marijuana and Xanax in high school. We sent her to rehab in Newport Beach, CA on December 4, 2012 when she was 18 years old. She was desperately out of control here at home in Midland, TX. She spent six months in rehab and seemed like a changed person who wanted to be sober, have a productive future and get along with her family who loved her so much. She went back to school in California and seemed to be doing really well. Unfortunately, we later found out that she was using various drugs and drinking during most of that time. In October of 2015, we learned that Kirby was using meth and heroin. We cut off most of our financial support and told her we would send her to rehab in Florida. She flew to Jacksonville, FL on December 2, 2015. She kept relapsing and moved from treatment center to treatment center and finally completed a 30 day program. She moved into sober living and was doing IOP. She got a job at a candy store and was employee of the month! She finally decided to work the 12 Steps and she had a sponsor. She died on February 26, 2016 from heroin and fentanyl intoxication (overdose). I believe that she had the mindset to use just one more time and then move forward with her life. She had been sober for a little while and was not able to tolerate the amount she used on February 26, the worst day of our lives. She was only 22 years old.

He found alcohol early in life and it took control in his mid-20's. He and our family did not know or understand how to deal with the disease and its many challenges. After 25 plus years of pain and struggles he became sober, built a wonderful business, married his wonderful wife and found joy in his life. After over 10 years of sobriety and during the financial crisis and some health issues he began to abuse pain meds which led to alcohol and his death. Addiction is a BEAST.