Reilly McCloskey is clear-eyed. At last.
An addict through his teens, Reilly, 23, is clean and sober, his vision fixed and in focus, the grayscale blur of his Conestoga days turned radiant.
And like Dorothy in Oz, Reilly is relishing every last pixel, capturing them with his Canon D in all their Technicolor glory.
Indeed, the first show of his photography (“Interaction of Color” at Bryn Mawr’s New Leaf Club through March) is an explosion of hue and light.
A celebration of seeing. For the first time.
“Colours” of Spruce Street Harbor Park/Reilly McCloskey.
Reilly, more than anyone, knows how lucky he is.
“Plenty” of his addict friends are gone now, another buried a few months ago.
If he had moved from booze and pot to heroin (“almost every one of my high school friends went in that direction”), Reilly’s pretty sure he would have checked out already, too.
Heroin is “everywhere,” Reilly tells SAVVY. “It’s just as bad here on the Main Line as it is in Maryland.” If the January death of a former Haverford School star athlete/Ivy League grad hasn’t sobered us up, folks, Reilly hopes his story just might.
That’s why, on a recent Saturday afternoon, he eagerly sat down with me – a stranger who happens to know his parents and stepmother – in the Gateway Starbucks for more than an hour.
At first glance, I was dumbstruck.
Could the articulate, intelligent young man before me really have wasted his youth, some of his best years, getting black-out drunk and high?
Alcoholism and addiction run in Reilly’s family. Add adolescent insecurity and things got toxic fast. “I didn’t feel confident just being myself so I started drinking and smoking [pot]. I lost interest in school … Maybe it was the culture. We’d go to our friends’ parents’ basements and get wasted. As long as it was in their house and we weren’t driving…” he recalls, shaking his head.
He managed to graduate in 2010, then plummeted. “I didn’t do anything. I was just sleeping on the couch, with no drive, no ambition, no life. I had had dreams but I lost myself in addiction.”
After outpatient rehab and counseling, a possession charge at age 18 (reduced to a misdemeanor for community service never performed), an underage at 19, straight A’s at Delco, a first job at Five Below and months of sobriety fatally “rewarded” with a drink, Reilly had one thing figured out: Addiction was a monster he couldn’t slay alone.
He called a sober friend. And with that friend’s help, was reborn. “I had an awakening … There was more to life than getting high. I realized that other people matter.”
He woke up to a new talent, too. “Photography is meditation for me; I get in a different zone.” A photography professor took an interest; the New Leaf Club nurtured it, allowing him “to flourish and meet other like-minded people.”
On track for an associate’s degree in graphic design next spring, Reilly hopes “Interaction of Color” will be the first of show of many, “the beginning of a new chapter for me.”
He doesn’t blame his own parents for his struggles. “At the end of the day, it was my decision.”
But he does have a strong words for area parents.
To parents of kids with addiction issues: “You’re killing your children. I have to put it in those words,” Reilly says.
How, exactly, are they “killing them”?
“They’re letting them sleep it off on the couch. They’re giving them money to go to the movies … They’re providing food, shelter, jobs and money.”
What they should be doing instead, what he wishes the parents of his dead friends had done, was kick them out. Cut them off.
“They won’t reach the bottom until they have nothing. If you’re an addict, you should be either on the streets or in rehab. That’s it,” Reilly says.
His second warning is to parents who think hard drugs couldn’t possibly touch their kids: Wake up. That Tylox/Vicodin/Oxycontin you were prescribed after surgery is just calling your teen’s name.
“Kids are trying to get their hands on anything. They just want to try it,” Reilly says. And “trying” an opiate leads to opiate addiction, which leads to the easier and cheaper high of heroin.
That’s what makes opiates so much more lethal than booze, in Reilly’s opinion.
“Alcohol affects me differently than other people … Every time I drank, I blacked out.” But hard drugs are addictive to everyone who tries them, he says.
Parents, too, should consider being more “open-minded,” according to Reilly. Sure, you should have some rules. But don’t sweat the small stuff.
“There’s a lot of pressure out there on kids. Let them know that they’re enough. As is. And that they don’t need to change for anybody.”
An old soul only a few years out of his teens, Reilly has found a second calling: helping high school kids on the road to sobriety. “When I talk to kids, I hear who I used to be in there. Helping them is super rewarding.”
To that end, Reilly asked that I publish his cell number: 215-620-6553. “If it wasn’t for someone I knew I could call, I definitely wouldn’t be here.”
Reilly McCloskey’s “Interaction of Color” is on display at the New Leaf Club, 1225 Montrose Ave., Rosemont, through March 31. To reach Reilly, call 215-620-6553.
Another of Reilly’s Valley Forge Park self-portraits, “Peace and Love.”
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No matter how many National Merit and AP Scholars it announces at graduation, how many trophies its teams hoist this school year, or how stellar its “Guys and Dolls” performances last weekend, NOTHING, it seems, will erase the stench that came out of the locker room at Conestoga last week.
First, it stunk up the local news.
Then it leeched out to USA Today, Yahoo, and media outlets across the country.
And now it festers: three senior players charged (as juveniles) with assault, conspiracy and related charges for sodomizing a freshman player with a broomstick on “No-Gay Thursday,” part of ritual hazing that the Chester County DA says has been going on for three years.
The DA’s story (in a nutshell): The freshman refuses to clean the locker room in his undies. Furious, the big boys hold him down and call for the broom. (Being forced to clean lockers in one’s skivvies apparently being a No-Gay tradition, along with genitals rubbed over heads and other lovely acts.)
Foul, twisted stuff.
And all this comes on the heels of last fall’s sexting/cyberbullying scandal. (Remember that beaut? Four male students charged with distributing porn via cellphone to harass a freshman girl.)
Something sure seems rotten in the state of Stoga. Theories abound: Lack of supervision? Poor moral guidance? Lax rule enforcement or too few rules in place? Arrogant kids run amuck?
A yucky twist: The alleged broomstick victim was one of the very same freshmen arrested for sexting those x-rated photos. The DA says there’s no evidence of a connection, though.
The latest wrinkle: After taking some heat, DA Hogan also explained Monday why he didn’t charge the three football players with rape, or, more precisely, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. The alleged victim asked him not to, wishing to avoid the extra courtroom humiliation.
It’s happened before: Tragically, a 17-year-old committed suicide in Vermont in 2012, a year after his football teammates sodomized him with a broomstick during a team dinner. Six months ago, his parents sued the Milton School District, its superintendent, and its high school principal for failing to uphold anti-bullying/hazing policies.
Putrid and rotting, the whole sorry Stoga mess is enough to make you hurl. Then, hopefully, stand back up, wipe your mouth, and push for change.
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In brighter school news, a SAVVY shoutout to Malvern Prep junior Andrew Clark. The lacrosse goalie was just named Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Student of the Year (Eastern PA) for raising a whopping $68,000 for the cause.
Bolstered by fellow cancer survivors and Malvern students Mason Abate, Ethan Bedwell and Nick Calvaresi, Andrew’s “Catch the Cure” February fundraiser at Main Line Sports in Berwyn was a smash hit.
The $68K goes to Dr. Carl June’s game-changing immunotherapy research at UPenn.
And Andrew takes home a $2,500 college scholarship. Nice.
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Reality TV alert: Haverford School ’76 alum and transgender activist Jennifer Finney Boylan (James Boylan until her transition) is back on board Caitlyn Jenner’s luxury bus for the second season of E!’s “I Am Cait” docu-series. And so far, Jennifer’s giving Jenner a very rough ride for her conservative political views.
Caitlyn Jenner’s TV entourage includes Haverford School alum Jennifer Finney Boylan (second from left). PHOTO CREDIT PAUL DRINKWATER/NBC UNIVERSAL
Boylan, a Barnard professor and author of the bestselling memoir “She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders,” says she’s a voice of reason on the show.
Others call her its surprise breakout star.
And a TV Guide writer dubs Boylan’s political provocation “brilliant reality TV.” If Boylan weren’t there to confront her, “Jenner might consume herself with lipstick, boys, clothes and, to be fair, figuring herself out,” writes TV Guide’s Malcolm Venable. So noted.
BTW, Boylan still counts the day she got a standing O at the Haverford School – Dec. 3, 2010 – “one of the most powerful experiences” of her life.
How could our kids experience of Conestoga be so very different from the awful stories in this blog?
Both of our sons graduated a few years ago (as did Caroline’s) went on to great universities, and are wonderful successful young men (as is Caroline’s).
The stories are sad and more than a little scary. And yet, I cannot help but feel that the news focuses on the dark side. Yes, bad things happen to kids. And yea, parents should be aware of what is going on. And yes, a warning is well worth heeding. We all can learn from these sad events, but they really do not represent my family’s Conestoga experience.
I agree with you, Mark. While I generally don’t like to focus on the negative in SAVVY, this young man had a compelling, courageous tale to tell and wanted me to share it. And it’s especially heartening that he’s now helping other teens avoid the same path. Like every school, Stoga has its share of problems but generally does a very fine job educating students (including my own).
It has been there for years. You just did not see or hear it. My daughter’s best friend died from a heroin OD in 2005 in Devon and many have died from OD or suicide. Many groups in the area have been trying to bring awareness and to educate this area for along time. Groups like ARCH, DART. Mental Health and Addiction Ministry at Trinity Presbyterian Church.
I’m sorry but you need to open your eyes to the hazardous culture of Conestoga. I was a student there and trust me, you sound like everyone’s parents’ I had known.
You type of parents a THE PROBLEM. Open your damn eyes to the reality.
There really needs to be some awareness for parents cause their kids certainly aren’t going to teach them. Especially when they are exploring all the options schools have to offer these days……if you know what I mean. My daughter graduated Stoga in ’12 and I have since been educated by her.
all had the group of parents that looked you in the eyes and said how great their child was doing and avoiding the drinking/drug thng. we all knew different . all the kids wanted to be at their home. guess what one night the little pride and job hit and tree – drinking; but then the mother called each of us that pride hung with and said “please don’t talk about this. ” keep it to yourselves. big joke we had already been aware and the boys were not going over any more (some) wake up, they are so exposed – be on top, be aware – your social life is not as important as being part of theirs.
Your view on the article focusing on “The Dark Side” is part of the problem in suburbia! If it does not directly impact you or your family you don’t want to hear the negative. That is just ridiculous and sad. Everyone should be outraged over this incident, because you never know it could be your child one day and how would you feel. Just because you sweep things under the rug does not mean they go away. Things only change with knowledge!
So great to hear of a young man who was lost coming out of the darkness and seeing his true potential while also wanting to help others. Great story and I look forward to viewing his exhibit.
Praying for the parents, students and faculty at Conestoga that the healing begins for all involved.
Amen to that, Tracy.
Wow, just wow! Reilly sums everything up here! He is telling the honest truth! Parents need to wake up. I am in recovery; and the first opiate I ever took was from my parents medicine cabinet, which then led to a 3 year OxyContin/Heroin addiction. My life in recovery is beyond my wildest dreams. I too, like Reilly, will publish my number for anyone who needs help. 610-348-9678
I think we all need to be responsible and avoid a rush to judgment on the alleged Conestoga situation. Just because someone is charged does not make the story true (remember Duke lacrosse). The media loves a scandal and sometimes so do the prosecutors, especially when it involves a well-known and well-respected school. The boy who made the accusations WAS at the heart of the cell phone situation, and has very good reason to lash out at Conestoga as he had already been expelled for the cell phone problem.. There is more to the story. The truth is not all that is reported in the news.
Haha! This is the reason this stuff happens! This was a 4 months investigation. The DA announced the charges not the media on some kind of bring down Stoga vendetta. These sadists will not have to report under Meghan’s Law despite their disgusting act! But hey I guess you’re ok with one of these “upstanding” men coaching your child/grandchild someday…SMDH
The US justice system is based on the premise of innocent until proven guilty. The Conestoga football team and coach deserve at least that.
I graduated from Conestoga in 2009, 6 months after I got out of rehab for using as many drugs as I could get my hands on. I went on to graduate from college with honors and now have a successfull career & beautiful marriage. I am grateful to have the amazing life that I do. The majority of my classmates did not have drug problems… But those that did have drug problems & didn’t get clean went on to using heroin.
There is also a glaring mental health issue that has been swept under the rug. I have had 4 classmates commit suicide (that I know of), one while in school and the remaining after graduation. I hope the administration has asked themselves, “What can we do differently to help our current students out of these dark places so they can go on to live happy, fulfilling lives?” And I hope parents know what has happened to Conestoga students & grads so they can ask themselves the same question.
This isn’t an attack against Conestoga. I received an amazing education at Conestoga and had teachers that changed my life. This is me stating facts because the reality of the situation shouldn’t be overlooked. The administration and parents need to be aware of what’s going on and need to address it. My hope is that the administration will prove they care more about their students than making Conestoga “look good”.
Kate, I so applaud your courage and am beyond thrilled that you have found a new, beautiful life and marriage. Part of my mission at SAVVY is to pull back “the rug” and show what’s beneath. Your comment helps do exactly that and I thank you.
Thanks Reilly for your fearless openness and challenge to all mentioned. It takes a village to create amazing experiences with successful outcomes but as well that same village can be responsible for experiences of destruction and despair. It seems to me that the resounding message that needs to be heard is the DESIRE FOR THE RIGHT TO LIFE philosophy. That Philosophy supports and secures decisions and involvements for the vision of procuring life and the respect and advocacy for individuals within our community. The main responsibility of parents and schools in regards to the children/students is as stated: Provide a loving, safe, respectful, nourishing, and productive environment from which children can then flourish,learn, and value themselves and humanity. All else falls in place when these core needs are met. I have been blessed enough to have numerous children schooled in various locations ( Malvern Prep, St. Joes Prep, Notre Dame Academy, St. Patrick’s Malvern) , honored to state I personally know most of the people whom you reference, and was a teacher for the Archdiocese of Phila. prior to raising my 7 children. I am certain that all schools- private, parochial, and public– deal with the same issues. Our parents and schools must focus on the respect for life and others at a very young age to promote responsibility to this human right or else we will continue to find ourselves picking up the pieces of a broken society in which children have been neglected or adversively affected. I’m hoping your article challenges us in improving current influences on children and creating a better environment for all! Enjoy the beautiful day and all the positivity you can receive. Thank you.
Thanks for your thoughtful response to Reilly’s story, MA. It takes a village, indeed.
In Upper Merion we have a federally funded program that hopes to prevent alcohol & drug addiction among youth. We also strive to support parents with seminars & workshops providing awareness of addiction but also strategies such as mindfulness which has been shown to help teens and their parents. I worked in the field , and I am struck by the rise in teen depression, a known risk factor for addiction. Parents also need to know that anxiety, Adhd & eating disorders are risk factors for developing an addictive disorder. One of the most powerful speakers I heard was Carl from Minding Your Mind. He knew he was at high risk to become homeless because of his family history of alcoholism, but still turned to alcohol to manage his overwhelming anxiety.
So good to see a positive story about a young man getting his life back.
Thanks for calling attention to the depression/anxiety that often leads to addiction. Thanks too for shining a light on Minding Your Mind, a very special group with quite compelling speakers that is determined to remove the stigma from mental illness. The same can be said for the DMAX Foundation which grew out of tragic suicide of a Radnor High School scholar/athlete.
*Correction: Heroin is cheaper than the prescription pills. The kids go from pills to actual baggied up heroin to save money.
As a side note, he clearly feels that his parents were “killing him.”
The observation i made about parents killing their children comes from Heroin addicts i’ve seen, whether that be friends or the countless stories i’ve heard from other people who went through addiction and are sober now.
The issue is that parents, not just in this area but everywhere, make it too comfortable for their kid to get high and still live in their house, get fed, get the perks of someone who does not need serious treatment and recovery. My suggestion is either rehab, or if the kid is of age to be on his/her own, letting him or her go.
Whether or not the parent is at fault for the child becoming a drug addict (Which in most cases, is not the parents fault, the kid was always going to find a way to get high) does not matter. The question is what to do now after that line has been crossed, and in my opinion, by enabling the child to live in a safe, secure household where everything is provided to them, and they can live if this false world of little responsibility for their own actions, is Killing them. Addiction is severe. That severe.
Reilly,
As a parent of a teenager, I agree with what you said. And as an adult who lost a dear childhood friend more than 25 years ago to a very Main Line overdose, and have watched someone else experience an early widowhood because their spouse decided to play with heroin, I applaud your candor.
Right now there is someone I have known most of my life, a woman, who still may be in a hospital in intensive care somewhere because her alcoholism is so bad that she couldn’t walk and looks like a skeleton. Friends went to family to beg them to get her to treatment and it was like it was too much trouble – and they are the parents and family who have ignored her issues since high school. Her own daughter who went to Conestoga actually will not have anything to do with her.
You are brave and true for doing your interview with Caroline. This is your truth, keep telling it. I agree so much about the parental enablers.
And to Mark whom made the top comment about the news focusing on the negative and how that isn’t his Conestoga that his kids attended? He is lucky and he needs to get over the knee jerk affluent parent reaction of “it really doesn’t happen here.” It does. Every day. And it’s not just kids, it’s adults. And it’s not just at Conestoga.
Until we own that addiction is real and pervasive as a society we won’t deal with it.
Reilly your uncomfortable truth is one of the most beautiful things I have read. Keep working your program and best wishes for an awesome life for you.
The problem in all this is everyone is foucused on STOGA. I too am a graduate of Stoga class of 2000 and I loved the school and the people. The Focus should be on the parents and it always should. If we as parents are holding our kids responsible at home and teaching them the right things, a lot of these issues won’t arise. Parents are so busy working, or worried about their own lives they forget to be parents. They want to be friends with their kids, thinking as long as you get good grades you can do whatever. No No and No. What do we expect to happen in school if nothing is happening at home. Its not up to the school to teach our kids character, its up to the school to reinforce what is being taught. I’m a man of God and I’ll go ahead and say this since nobody else will. Ask the kids that are having these issues how many sundays they spend in church learning the Word of God. The Word keeps us grounded and holds us accountable to not only our parents but more importantly to God. If we don’t teach our kids to stand for something (Christ) they will fall for anything. Stay blessed, keep praying!
I think faith is a powerful thing, and i think its safe to say that it is super helpful to people. A big struggle for a lot of young people is believing in what their parents think they should believe in. There is nothing wrong with christianity, and if thats what helps someone mold their ideals and live up to them, then awesome, but i think alot of times parents get too worked up over the fact that their kid isn’t living or walking the path that the parent wants. Not every christian parents child is going to grow up to be a devout christian. I think the problem more or less lies along the lines of acceptance. Accept your kid for who he or she is, no matter what. That is love.
About 5 years ago I had dinner with 2 Harvard Graduates whose son was a senior at Episcopal Academy at the time. One of our dinner guests was a local who was on the Harvard Alumni Association. She posed a question to me knowing I was in recovery. Paraphsing the question ” One of or sons friends was in a bad car accident and the girl he was with was injured seriously; he walked away and his parents paid big money for the accident to go away.We know he is a heavy drug user and dealing drugs on campus. What do you you think we should do?” MY reply was you should talk to his parents and report his activities to Episcopal Administration as he was going to end up killing himself or a classmate. They both himed and hawed with excuse after excuse as to why they should mind their own business. ” Why should we ruin his future as Elizabeth said he was accepted to Harvard a couple of weeks ago; his parents would be devastated. Needless to say they did nothing and to this day I do not know what ever happened to to young man. The two individuals we had dinner with are a well repeated litigator for a major law firm in Philadelphia and his wife at the time was working in the Obama administration. WTF…. This conversation is a everyday occurrence on the Main Line and the result 95% of the time is to throw money at it and that will make it better or sweep it under the rug and it never happened. Death is permanent; social or educational setbacks are temporary. Screw what the people at the the club are going to say or think and step up and be the parent you always wanted to be not the the parent your friends, associates, or parents think you think you sold be. Your choice or your funeral home… it’s that serious!!!!!!
As a parent, I’m thinking I need to be more proactive by educating myself on “enabling”…… seems to be a very fine line, Any thoughts?
Riley,
Thank you for your bravery and for genuinely stepping up and into the role of mentor to our kids in need. As much as I have embraced my sons unique and genius artistic gifts, I know that the pressures for him to be “like” everyone else may often seem insurmountable. This gives me a heavy heart. I also have come to know many teens with parents that have yet to acknowledge, appreciate and nurture the special gifts their children have been given. They are the most vulnerable and broken, many who see addiction and suicide as the immediate pain reliever. Your creative, artistic and successful photography is an inspiration for them. I also have another son who is a successful, student athlete. He seems to have an easy and perfect journey but I would be irresponsible to think his challenging academics and rigorous athletic demands won’t have been introduced to various pain relievers. I can only hope and pray I recognize his pain before he needs relief.
Riley’s message is not about where he is from or where he went to school, it was about the reality of the possibilities our children face. His honesty and candor about parenting with a blinds eye and sharing the truth that hurts is commendable. An artistic or athlete, a vulnerable child can take the path of least resistance to relieve the pain and a parent can pretend they didn’t believe it was a possibility.
Some who replied missed the mark in the article and may need to reread. It’s not about a specific school or zip code. It’s a story about a child that exposed himself and gave open, honest advice. As parents, we can either take the incredible insight and act accordingly, or play the blame game, turn the page and find an article that doesn’t require our participation.
Thank you Riley for being there for a child, who whether reaches out to you or not, is comforted just knowing you are there.
God bless you and all the good that you have done and continue to do. I’m sorry that your journey was sorrowful and challenging but I know your suffering and spot on honesty already changed many lives for the better.
This is everywhere, not just Conestoga! Unfortunately, most of the bad gets brushed under the rug. But every school in every state has addiction, it’s just not publicized. We, as parents, need to be educated and most importantly, be the parent and not the “friend”. They may not like it but they’ll love you once they realize what you did for them, which, probably won’t be until they’re adults and have their own children. Know where and what your children are doing and who they are hanging out with. Stalk them on media!
Reilly, thank you so much for your honesty. Would you ever consider speaking on this subject at Conestoga and/or other local schools at assemblies? Everyone needs to hear what you have to say. Especially parents.
Thank you for presenting a topic that has touched most of our mainline lives, in one way or another … We need a local forum for relevant topics .. The children are our future … Love them , but most of all KNOW them .. Dvc
Please read my second part series on addiction. It will be in this week’s Ephrata Review and Lititz Record. There are happy endings. But too often, not so happy endings. Thank you.
I will look for it, Janice. I just returned from Tyler’s memorial service where his very brave brother Reilly spoke directly to the hundreds of young people in attendance about the need to get help NOW if they’re struggling with addiction. I pray those who needed to hear those words were listening.
My son was diagnosed with ADHD at 14 which apparently he had had since he was 12. He had disguised the symptoms by taking marijuana since he was 12. The HIPPAA Act was in effect at this time which prohibited his parents from knowing about his mental health illness and the treatment he was receiving.
Our son progressed up to stronger drugs without our knowledge and despite checking his room regularly for drugs and associated paraphanalia. He helped three teenagers from committing suicide while he went thru these phases. He was in prison on several occasions as well as self-admitting himself to rehab facilities a number of times. He even saw doctors and was prescribed opiates to address his heroin urge. On one self-admittance to a rehab facility he was kicked out for stopping his counselor having sex with a female enrollee. Subsequently, his PO verified that he had tested negative for drugs and the institution dealt with several of its staff accordingly. The female enrollee however was iced out of the rehab facility on the same day and was placed in jail. She is happily married these days. He was placed in prison and when he was released got drugs for a friend who was required to be on drugs before the hospital would admit her into the hospital and she gave him some cash and some of her stash. Being recently out of prison he too the drugs a wee later thinking he was immune from overdosing but overdosed because (a) his tolerance was low for having been in prison and (b) he thought he was immune. He might be alive today if we openly discussed the following related matters:
1. How HIPPAA hides addiction from parents;
2. Look at the sentencing guidelines for drug addiction offences;
3. Hospitals should not require someone seeking “rehab” assistance to have drugs in their bodies before admission;
4. We desperately need to discuss mental health issues in this country;
5. Our LEOs should listen when an addict may have been wrongfully treated (after all, they also have civil rights);
6. States should punish caretakers who abuse addicts as they are in their care under diminished capacity conditions; and
7. Parents and school children should listen to a parent whose son or daughter has died from an addiction to learn not only what the emotional impact was on them before their child died but what has occurred subsequent to their child’s death.
Our son was loved by many and knew of the demons he was fighting every day but he still overdosed. He is finally at peace while we must live on without him for the rest of our lives. This he does not see. If he understood the pain he has left behind he may have thought twice about taking the drugs that killed him. maybe not. but maybe he can stop someone else making the same mistake so they can live a full and enjoyable life. I was a teacher once and would love all kids to understand that we all have a responsibility to each other and we need to have an open dialogue on this matter to address the points I have raised above as well as others not listed that others can add based upon their personal experience(s).
knew
Thank you for your comment. I especially appreciate the detailed account of how your son’s drug use began as a way to cope with/hide an ADHD diagnosis. As you know, I heartily agree with the need to discuss mental health and addiction issues openly. Your suggestions for change are quite interesting and compelling. I’m wondering if you might consider copy/pasting your comment to SAVVY’s most recent post about the heroin death of Tyler McCloskey? More people are reading that post now (as compared to this older post) and I’d like your ideas to be seen by as many people as possible. If there’s anything I can do to help get the word out, please don’t hesitate to reach out personally. You can reach me at [email protected]. Thanks again–C.
My thoughts and prayers are with Reilly since I’ve learned of the death of his Step-Mom. Following the loss of his brother so closely is a terrible cruelty. (I suffered the losses of both my brothers and mom over a 7 year period. My one brother died on the exact date when our Dad had passed years before. The next year, my Mother’s wake was on my birthday. I’m telling these very personal details to show a solidarity of grief and survival.)
I am inspired by your courage and moved by your willingness to share. I’m sure Reilly appreciates your comment, too.