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

Zachary was introduced to percocets at the age of 17, immediately following an ankle injury that sidelined him from hockey. A well-meaning friend gave him a pill to ease the ankle pain and return to his favorite sport. As Zachary would later tell us, he was immediately hooked. Addiction, a progressive disease, took this bright, talented young man from us, turning into a person that we didn't recognize. As the disease progressed, Zachary was introduced to oxy and finally heroin. As parents, we did everything we could think of to help Zachary -- countless detox facilities, outpatient treatment, inpatient treatment, sober homes, individual treatment and suboxone. He tried, he really did but unfortunately, the demon finally won. Zachary had 60 days sober and was living in a sober home when he made the unfortunate decision to use "one more time." The "one more time" took him from us. He died alone in his room. We were never able to say goodbye.

It started in high school with marijuana then progressed to experimenting with other drugs until he settled on heroin as his drug of choice. He was using for months before telling us then he reached out for help in getting clean in January 2013. That began the cycle of getting clean, relapsing, wanting help, then not wanting help until July 2014 when something changed in him and he said he was ready to be serious about being clean. I heard it in his voice, he said "I wanted to get off the merry-go-round", I want to start the next part of my life, sober and happy. He went through detox and to a inpatient/sober living place in FL. He came out strong and went to work at a job he enjoyed, he started making plans about his future. After 6 months clean he wants to come home for the holidays, he thought he could control this. He was met by friends that used, he overdosed that night but was revived. He used again a couple nights later and died.

Bill tried many ways to stop, He went for weeks and months without Heroin but in that time he would be drinking.

He had eight months of sobriety after struggling with heroin, which in the end claimed his life. He found much strength in AA meetings and the 12 steps.

Wes had been crushing and snorting prescription pain pills for the past five or six years. I’m not sure when it began and I’m not sure anyone else can pinpoint that date either. I know I personally refused to believe it when I was told. It’s not something you want to hear about your loved one. He had his own seemingly never-ending prescription from a local doctor in town. A licensed drug dealer. When the disease took hold, he was selling those pills for stronger pills and apparently had moved on to heroin at some point. He only ever talked to me about trying cocaine, and not liking it, and to taking prescription pills. We didn’t have many direct conversations like this though, because he would just get angry and we’d argue. He finally decided to go into rehab on March 7, 2016. I was very proud of him. He was in the facility for a mere sixteen days. He continued with some outpatient work for a couple more days. How could they let him leave so soon when his insurance covered a full thirty days? He talked to his mom about getting Vivitrol shots. They agreed he would try it, but due to his work schedule, he decided he couldn’t go monthly for the shot. He also told me how people can accidentally overdose if they use drugs while on Vivitrol. He explained that they don’t get the high, so they keep using and keep using until they accidentally overdose. I don’t know if he was trying to tell me that was his fear, that he might relapse, or if he was indirectly admitting to me that he was using again. He was using again already, but he was still hiding it well. He was gone less than one month after he got out of rehab. His funeral was two months to the day of his twenty-fourth birthday. But before he left us, we got to spend time with him. Quality time. Everybody that loved him had come together to help him. When he first got out of rehab he was healthy, clear-eyed, and talkative. That time after rehab was a gift from God.

He had been abusing alcohol since he was 10 and prescription drugs and cocaine since he was 14 and got into heroin and crack at 23. He has struggled with depression and anxiety his whole life.

Vincent struggled after finding his wife in bed with his best friend, took to partying. Had a son out of wedlock and another brother, also passed now took his son making matter's much worse. Went through multiple rehabs, one was for 9 months. Nothing seemed to help, he went from a basketball star to an addict in the speed of light. Owning his own business, home, two new cars, lost EVERYTHING, I have lost my family to this epidemic, including three nephews struggling as we speak. Robert passed away a few months ago, the woman he was with waiting too long to call the ambulance so Narcan did not help. He was 58, Vincent died in his arms in 2009 from the OD.

Tyler has been a heroin addict since he was 19 years old. I have tried everything to help him with his addiction. He has been to rehab three times, we've tried the medications, finally I sent him to Dawn Farms Rehab in Ann Arbor where he got clean for 3 1/2 months.

Tricia married a high school football jock who's parents were addicted to meth & crank. She finally left & divorced him, but was so addicted to drugs. She got involved with another guy & they stole checks from the business account & the in-laws & stepfather pressed charges. She was incarcerated & was in a program for nonviolent offenders. She ended up in a co-ed restitution center in Las Vegas. She and another young man walked off the facility and became fugitives. They ended up in Indiana living with young man's friends, dealing drugs. The boyfriend & she were victim of violent crime in October, 2000.

His addiction is sometimes all I can remember of him, it lasted so long. He never wanted help, he was so stubborn, we never knew how to help. I will always regret now knowing how.

Scooter started taking Lortab pain medication for recreational use. They then took over his life and became the death of him. People think that Lortabs are weak and they cannot hurt you. Scooter will proove them wrong.

Tammy had a gastric bypass a few years before she had children. She ended up in a violent relationship, and ended it on her own, but started a new relationship with another person who was equally violent. She married him and I failed to see the signs of battered wife syndrome. There are so many changes that take place and many things happened to her, that I will never know and I have only heard what others witnessed. I heard only what she felt safe enough to share. She wanted to protect my family from being hurt, and by this time, she was affected so deeply, and after the police were involved following a crisis, we put her in a women's shelter. Various programs through the state helped her get into an apartment and she got a job right away. She went to counseling with her children and seemed to get back on her feet. Several things happened after this led to her addiction. First, she began to have problems associated with her gastric bypass. She struggled with it constantly and ended up in the hospital often. She was sent home with pain pills, and I believe she became addicted to them. I never saw her drink before, and one day she had a beer in her hand. I soon saw one all the time. She had a pasty white color to her, and I learned from others she had been hospitalized a couple times and she didn't tell me. I was heart broken and worried. I found out at a conference, that people with gastric bypass, are becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol and an alarming rate because the alcohol and drugs given to someone with a gastric bypass, causes problems with addiction. One beer is equal to three and one pill is equal to three, and hydrocodone is very addictive in a regular person. I believe my sister was well into her addiction before she even knew what was happening. Her shame kept her from sharing with me or anyone, and there was no one to intervene.

Tommy was a gifted musician at 10 years old, his career went from rags to riches in a very short time. He started doing drugs when he was 16 and when he went up the ladder of success his addiction intensified until he ended his life.

I believe he began using early on. He drank and then became abussive. The cycle never stopped for him. Our father was an abussive alcoholic & taught Steve well. I know he hated himself because, in his sober moments, he was meek, gentle & loving.

He struggled with addiction to herion for the past 6 years. He had been in and out of rehab, in and out of jail. He would tell me he felt ashamed, that herion controlled him. That it was a love-hate relationship. He would say he wanted to quit, change his life. He said his addiction makes him steal, made him go to jail, made him lose his kids. Made him hurt his family. Before his death he was in jail because of it for four months, getting out 2 weeks before. Christmas. He saw his children twice, stayed with mom and dad., Then he went out with friends a couple times and the second time he didn't come back, instead I received a call from a detective from the Chicago police department. " Mrs. Bruser?" I answered yes, "We have your son, he was found......" And at that moment a part of my heart died

his struggle started when he was a teenager and continued from there He had been to treatments and would do good at times and then he would relapse. He finally moved this past year in 2014 to be close to his family and start over with a fresh start. He was doing so good, got a job and had plans to go back and finish his college degree this fall. He died March 7, 2015. The year drop down box did not show 2015 as an option. He was 38. I took him to work that Saturday after spending the whole day with him. Little did I know 6 hours later he would be gone from our lives forever. The temptation of heroin got the best of him. He was found in the bathroom at work laying on the floor barely breathing. CPR did not bring him back. What he thought he bought was heroin , was actually pure fentanyl and killed him instantly. His family, friends and me his girlfriend - our lives were changed and completely shattered within minutes. We do not understand how this could happen to such a great, handsome, charismatic loving man , so young. It's devastating.

Started as a mental health (OCD) issues in 5th grade then as he got older a very complex, confusing and a tangled web of not one issue but multiple issues that didn't allow Scott to live a normal life. He tried so hard through wilderness program, rehab centers, AA meetings, finishing high school and going to college. He/We did everything possible. Our Christmas of 2009 we had our family back together again and how happy and full of love we all shared together. Scott was clean now for over three years trying to continue on the road to recovery and live the normal life he so much wanted. However mental health issues and the web of addiction caused Scott great angst and pain. We lost Scott just before his 21st birthday. In his letter to us he says "this is a choice that I have wanted for a long time now, even since I was a kid. The cause is unknown but it kills me everyday, there was nothing done wrong by anyone. To my family I love you guys so much and don't you forget it. I'll never forget the good times we had as a family. Words can't describe how horrible I feel everyday for putting such strain on all of our relationships. I love you guys so much. We Love You More (LUM) Scott and are so very proud of you for everything you had to go through and everything you did in the short time you where with us.