Still Feeling No Pain –

April 2, 2020 – I grew up in rural, rust belt Pennsylvania. Although the economy and opportunity may be limited in this part of the country, it was a wonderful place to be raised. Small schools, football, community picnics, and exploring the backwoods of the heartland of America—these are a lot of my memories from my youth. Today I live and work in Hollywood, California and I don’t know that there is even one square inch that is the same in these two settings. But something that remains constant no matter where I live or travel in the world, is that I remember where I came from and stay in touch with friends and family. This remembrance is why I wrote “Shooting Heroin”, on the opioid crisis ravaging my home.  When I was growing up, the small town I came from was Mayberry in the Andy Griffith show. Everyone knew each other’s name, what was going on in the town, and what the kids were up to at the local high school. It was in reconnecting with my high school classmates that I learned how terrible the opioid epidemic had affected this once-idyllic small town. Our high school reunion took place and there were classmates missing—many from my generation are no longer here today because of this crisis. It is heartbreaking to me.

@Newsweek