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Our Children, Our Spouses, Our Siblings

I would like to sincerely thank all of emergency personnel of Essex who tried to save my son, Geoffrey Sypher, from a fatal heroin overdose on Dec. 23, 2016. There were dozens of people at his father’s house that day, every one of them doing their best to save him from such a tragic death.

Our community has a huge drug problem. Just because we live in these beautiful, affluent communities does not make us immune. Gone are the days when a heroin addict was someone in the back alley of a large city, someone you would never actually know. The people who are addicted today are our children, our spouses, our siblings. They come from good homes. They have loving families. They live in these small towns and they went to good schools. And they are dying every day.

The families of addicts struggle with feelings of shame and embarrassment and they often wonder what they did wrong. I would like to tell them right now, “You didn’t do anything wrong. Your loved one is sick. Your loved one has a disease. This disease is called addiction.”

If you know someone who is struggling with addiction or know a family member of an addict, please reach out to them. Show them some compassion and kindness. The love and support that has been shown to Ray, Kelly, and me is overwhelming and it is so appreciated. Thank you all very much.

Karen Sypher

Westbrook