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

❤️William Jessie Pressley ❤️ my child, my heart, my very breath 💕He lived! He mattered ... He still matters. 10/27/92-4/28/18, forever25💙🦋💘 💔😘😇 🧚‍♀️

Jerry was funny, sarcastic, hard-working, a good provider, a doting father. He loved spending time with our daughters, shooting guns, listening to music. He was really talented at making people laugh and sometimes cry. What I miss the most about Jerry was our long, candid conversations, his laugh, his pretty eyes and eyelashes. We had a long history, some good, some not so good. I will always remember Jerry the way he was before drugs changed him. He was tender, charming and kind, he always dressed well and smelled good. Jerry loved surprising me with gifts, he was gifted and confident in picking out beautiful clothing in my size head to toe down to my shoes, he did the same for the girls. Jerry loved having a family and providing for us, it made him feel good and he was good at it. He took care of my oldest daughter as his own without a second thought. We loved him very much and still do. Not a day goes by that I don't miss him.

My son was a great man, he loved his family, more then anything he loved his son. He was a goof, always smiling, always helping others even in his addiction. He picked a man up from a recovery meeting and drove out to a trail where the man killed him. I know that in his heart all he wanted to do was get rid of the demon that drugs gave him. He was trying so hard but drugs or the consequences of drugs took his life.

My baby girl Tina was always so sweet and loving. So smart too. She did well in school and had a Great future ahead. But some bad influences and some abuse got in her way. The pain of things that happened to her were too much for her to handle so she turned to drugs to numb the pain. I met a man named Rick that would soon become her Dad in 1995. She loved him so much and he loved her just as much. He was and always will be her Daddy. He got her jobs and helped her every way possible. I also have a son Leo. Tina's younger brother. He was there to help her as much as he could too. She met men that just added to her addiction which she called love. She was abused by those men. She married and had my Beautiful Granddaughter Becca that I have raised because of Tina's addiction. She is now 14. Tina had her on my Birthday. So very Special. She was so proud of that. Giving me the best Birthday present that I could ever get. I was always so proud of her. She tried to be a good mom but the drugs got in the way. We spent as much time as we could together. She loved us so much and was always there to help whenever she could be. We got her inpatient and a lot of outpatient help but the drugs just had too big a hold on my baby girl. We spent a Beautiful last night together. Halloween night October 31st 2019. We were at Great America park. Halloween Haunt. It's a tradition that we go there on Halloween. So we went on some rides and in some haunts together. She said she was cold and not feeling well so she left us around 8:30 pm. She said love you and left us. She realized she forgot her phone with Becca so she came back for it. She said bye and I love you again and that was the last time we heard her Precious voice and saw her alive. So many what ifs are still going through my mind everyday. I know that's part of my grief. The Coroner knocked on my door the next day which was November 1st 2019 and told me they found my daughter deceased in her car from a drug overdose. That was the day my world fell apart and my heart broke in a million pieces! We love her and miss her so much. Not a tearless day since! Tina Marie Tellez 7/17/80-11/1/19 Forever 39 😢💔

Wonderful brother and best friend. He loved softball and playing the guitar. Beautiful soul gone way too soon.

Wonderful son boyfriend brother grandson
Always laughing
Hardworking
Great basketball player
Gentleman
and scholar
Missed everday all day.

Born November 13, 1989, I was so sure he was going to be a girl, then I had an ultrasound that morning and was told it's a boy. That was good for his big brother. Those two had such a strong bond, even their own language. They were best friends, then in '94 he welcomed his baby sister, whom he adored. And a little brother in '96. Bradley was a superhero to his baby siblings. In '99 his little brother was diagnosed with cancer. We had to administer shots to him at home and Bradley would take a saline shot so Craigy wasn't so scared about it. He was always so full of life and adventure. Always a goof ball. At 12 he was baptized and wanted to become a missionary, he was so on fire for the Lord. In high school he met new people and was introduced to the party scene. And the devil was so thrilled with that. Things didn't get horrible until he started getting in trouble with the authorities, which was all part of the addiction. Then a so called friend introduced him to heroin. Our lives changed forever, that drug destroyed my boy. He would do good then the other active addicts would draw him back in. He met an awesome girl, was doing good, got engaged and was expecting his first child. Looking forward to a young adults small group at church. Then that same so called friend contacted him and that was it. My boy died. His baby boy was born Dec 6 2017, which happens to be my brother's birthday. He also passed that same year from the same poison. I miss him every day and when I look at my grandson I see the best parts of Bradley. He wasn't a bad person, the drugs made him someone he wasn't. It breaks my heart !!

My funny vivacious son. He is missed beyond my words, loved beyond measure!

My beautiful daughter Cortney was 25 when Heroin took her life. She was a beautiful girl with a beautiful heart but her body could not take the addiction she had any longer. I miss her every day.

Doug was the best friend and father anyone could have, however he lost his battle. He loved his son more than life itself. Avid fisherman, hunter, union man, and most of all loving. He was indeed a superhero... We all called him Dougman 💚 His greatest accomplishment ever was his son Theodore aka ROCK. WE MISS YOU SO MUCH 💚 Your son is soooo much like you 💚 Tho I know you are with Ted always. We use your name daily. Thank you for 20+ years of love and most importantly our son. Till the other side of the stars....

From the day Shawn was born, he had charisma and charm. Shawn was funny, witty and had a magnetic personality that drew everyone in. We called him “Ferris Buehler” because he was popular and loved by everyone, just like the character in the movie. Shawn was a love. Always hugging and kissing. In 2011 Shawn was prescribed OxyCodone for back pain, which led to an immediate addiction. He turned to heroin, which is cheaper and easier to get, and we lost him a year later from a heroin overdose. Shawn was 22. His sister, Jessica, was 20 at the time and struggled with PTSD and depression after losing her best friend dad brother. She struggled for 6 years. We lost her in 2018 from fentanyl. Jessica was 26.

My girl. The absolute joy and love of my life. Jessica was my only daughter. She was born after Nicky and Shawn, her 2 brothers. The most loving, kindest, giving soul ever. Beautiful inside and out. She never met a stranger. Head cheerleader, talented gymnast. Loved her Chow Chow, Bear. Jessica struggled with PTSD and depression after we lost our 22 year old Shawn from a heroin overdose, after he became addicted to the OxyCodone the doctor overprescribed to him. Jessica struggled for 6 years and could never overcome losing her best friend and brother. We lost her 6 years later after she was poisoned by fentanyl. Jessica was 26.

My son Cory loved sports. He was a UK fan. But loved Lebron and Kobe. He had been to rehab and sober living. He didn't want to be who he became. He loved working construction with his brother. He had got on full time at Morgon's in Austin, Indiana. But one day everything changed. He took his life at the age of 20. Please talk to someone there is always someone who cares.

Loving son, grandson, brother and boyfriend. We all miss his sense of humor, elaborate stories and his kind heart. He was gracious and compassionate and would have given the shirt off his back to help someone in need.

Loved his family. He would of gave anyone his shirt off his back. Loved the outdoors and enjoyed his friends. All the kids loved him and he’d make the room spin when he was around, wasn’t a dull moment went by. Everyone loved him.

Brandon is our oldest child and our only son. He was a loving father to two beautiful children, a Big brother, a Grandson, Nephew and friend. Brandon struggled with fear and anxiety since he was very young and although he seemed to do well with it at times, he battled it until his death. Brandon started using as a teenager and was addicted by the time he was in his early twenties. He fought hard to stay clean. He wanted to be the Father his children needed.

Nine months before he died, Brandon entered a Christ centered rehab for 6 months. It was 5 hrs. from home so we could not visit as much as we liked, but it brought him closer to God and the men he lived with. He built relationships that were real. I could see in his eyes he was different.

When Brandon came home he started making plans to get his life back on track and I will always treasure the conversations we had those last three months. He found a job, applied to school and spent time with his kids.

Two weeks before his death he relapsed. He started falling into the same patterns, being around the same triggers. We confronted him. He apologized from his heart. It was different than the other times. Two weeks later it happened again. Three days later he was gone. We miss him so much. I truly believe a God carried him home so he wouldn’t suffer anymore. For this I am thankful.

My daughters and I belong to a support group and are learning to manage the grief we share. We want to be able to help others going through this madness and help end the stigma of addiction. We will continue to honor Brandon’s memory by telling his story.

Raymond Blaine...where do I begin!? You have so many people who love and miss you, it's unbearable. Its kills me every second that this disease took you away from us. You were and will always be the strongest person I've ever met, you just never taught me how to live my life without my heart. I'd give anything, my own life, if I could bring you back to be here for Little Ray, Bryan, and Hannah, and your whole amazing family. I asked god every single day, why you? Not me? You were "my rock". The Peanut butter to my jelly, now I'm broken.

Joey was a sweet, kind little boy with a heart of gold. His struggles began in high school partying with his friends. His friends were able to keep it together and get though school, Joey was not able to do that. He had to go to a program to get sober and return to school where he graduated in 1997 and went to St. Peters College for 1 year where his partying really took off again. He dropped out of school, moved to Florida, continue to party and went to jail for a year. He returned home a different person, he was hijacked by his addiction, refused help and really hit a bottom with nowhere else to go because he burnt so many bridges. He agreed to a halfway house, where I believe he was going to meetings, working and doing good. To my surprise he was on the same path of addiction again, only this time his consequences were hard. He went to prison for 6 1/2 years, where he swore this was not the life that he wanted, he had dreams of a career, marriage and children. Joey was released from prison in August 2015. Within 2 months he was right back to his destructive path. He went down fast. I watched that sweet, kind, good hearted kid become hard, angry and hopeless! And on August 2nd Joey was found with the crack pipe, dead from an accidental overdose of crack cocaine laced with Fentanyl. It was the worst day of my life, I will never be the same. Joey was my only child, held my heart and my soul and he took them with him the day he left this world. I miss him every minute of every day, love you always and forever my son ❤️