My father passed in September. And he was not a perfect father. Far from it. But as he got closer to the end, in the last decade of his life, he softened. Every holiday, every family gathering, and nearly every conversation with me, my three sisters, his grandchildren, would reduce to one phrase: la familia.
“Son, it’s all about family.”
Every one of us is part of a family. Whether that family is large, small, highly functional, highly dysfunctional—whether family conjures feelings of deep pain or deep joy—family matters.
As I reflected this morning on my first Thanksgiving without Mom and now Dad, I’m not only thinking of my parents and my loss…
I’m thinking of the hundreds of parents and grandparents and siblings and other families I’ve met who have suffered what is deemed the ultimate form of psychological suffering—the loss of a child. In this case, to fentanyl.
In their brokenness—and in many cases in their resolve to organize around bringing change—they’ve taught me what love is about.
They’ve taught me about the achingly beautiful reality of family.
If you’re one of those parents mourning the loss of a child, as I’ve said hundreds of times, “As a father of three, I can only imagine.”
My thoughts and prayers are with you today. I mean that.
To those who have supported United Against Fentanyl and the vision to prevent families from suffering from fentanyl deaths, my most sincere thanks.
And my warmest and deepest Thanksgiving wishes, from my familia to yours.
