From Personal Experience…

I know personally how drug usage affects families.  My story is one of tragedy and triumph. I come from a large family; I am the oldest of five children.  Despite our age difference we are very close.  My oldest brothers Josiah, Jonathan and myself were especially close. That is why it was so hard to watch how drugs destroyed our family.

It started out with marijuana. 
My two oldest brothers started using in high school.  They were only using recreationally; at least that is what they would say.  They started using with increasing frequency.  Soon pot was not enough and they graduated to meth & cocaine.

We had many talks.  They would try to convince themselves and us that it was not that bad.  It was very hard to admit that my two younger brothers had a problem.  The entire family was on edge.  We were always wondering when the phone would ring with bad news.  We were afraid that Josiah’s recent car accident was worse than the previous one. There were problems at school and with so called friends.

On October 22, 2005, I received the worst call of my life.  My 18 year old brother Jon had died of an overdose.  My entire life came crashing down.  The lowest point was trying to write Jon’s eulogy.  No one should have to write a eulogy for an 18 year old.

Too many families have to do this very same thing. 
Enough is enough.  I did too little, too late with Jon.  I am driven to help families save their loved ones.  We can do this by getting people into substance abuse programs.  There is hope.  Things can get better.  I know this because my 22 year old brother, Josiah, is a living, breathing example.  He has been clean for 16 months and counting.  It has been a long road to get to this point.  He used for years.  We tried to help him the best we could and it was not enough.  Talking did not work.  The fact that he had several car accidents did not work.  Almost overdosing did not work as well either.  His downward spiral was out of control.  He had hit rock bottom so many times that we did not know where to turn.

On Thanksgiving 2004, it came to a head. 
I had not seen him for a month and when I did it was quite a shock.  His skin was gray, he looked close to death.  It shocked me into action.  How did we let him get this bad?  My parents and I had discussed rehab in the past but we did not push it enough.  When I saw him, I knew his time was up.  He probably had about a month left before he was dead.

My family was moving back to Minneapolis a week before Christmas and Josiah was moving in with me.  I spent the next month researching substance abuse programs.  Then it was time to confront December.  My Mom and I did an intervention and it was very intense.  He said that he did not have a problem and that rehab was not for people like him.  We talked for several hours and then he finally agreed to take a tour of MNTC, a substance abuse program.  He said that their was “No way” he would go there.  By this time I realized I had

truly done all that I could.  I finally had admitted to myself how bad his situation was.It was now up to him to choose life.  He should be dead but he is not. He entered the program the following week.

I received help getting Josiah into MNTC. 
I want to help other families in return.  Not only because my brother Jon is dead, but because my brother Josiah is still alive.  Families all across America are dealing with substance abuse. You can help make a difference.

Then it was time to confront him in December.

Thank you,
Sara (Borchers) Marino