In memoriam to those lost to drug addiction

addiction recovery ebulletin in memoriam

Death don’t have no mercy in this life –

December 31, 2019 – Losing a loved one to drug addiction can be difficult, but a local group gets together at the end of each year to celebrate the life and memories of their dearly departed. It’s a story that’s become all too familiar across the country, and it’s a story that some want you to remember.

“Cody first started with pills and marijuana,” Tracy Burtis, Cody’s mother and the Founder of Families Fighting Addiction, says.

Drug addiction isn’t just a statistic. It has a name and a face.

“The addiction took that – robbed us from that little girl,” Trisha Lutui, who lost her daughter Megan to an overdose, says. “I’m struggling to accept the death of my daughter.”

Cody died in January of 2017 and Megan died in August of 2017. Tracy Burtis and Trisha Lutui are part of a club no one ever wants to be a part of.

“We are a support system for the families and loved ones of those that are addicted,” Burtis says.

Each year this group memorialize those who have been lost.

“Unforunately, my daughter wasn’t able to make it,” Lutui says. “The addiction took her life. And I’ll be forever grateful to the people who helped me get through this – hardest period in my whole entire life as a mother losing her child.”

Addiction may have claimed the lives of Megan and Cody, but their memories live on.