Over the next several weeks, I will bring you (in part) Chapter Eleven of BETWEEN TWO PAGES:Children of Substance by Susan Hubenthal and GriefNet Parents who are a collection of wounded parents whose children have died from a drug related death. They came together tenuously on a site called GriefNet. Each one devastated by societies misplaced blame and guilt because they couldn't save their children, and filled with sorrow so deep some were unable to find life after death. Most have never met, yet they consider themselves a family, crying together and comforting one another.
Each are in various stages of grief. New members are welcomed
into the club nobody wants to join. Those who have lived with grief
longer, do their best to show love and sympathy to the newly bereaved. Grief
is a roller coaster; you never know when the ride will suddenly plunge
sending you spiraling downward, all over again. They help each other through
those frightening times, all knowing and understanding the nightmare of
losing a child to drugs.
They are teachers, homemakers, medical professionals, single parents,
couples, and grandparents. They live all across the United States and abroad. They have become a family of brothers and sisters in grief,joined together by understanding and unconditional love. Their passion is to touch as many people as possible, regarding adolescent drug use. They no longer worry about society pointing fingers. They have experienced the ultimate pain. Nothing and no one can ever hurt as much as a child's death.
They share themselves openly and honestly through emails,expressing their pain, their deepest thoughts, memories and their wish to have another chance to rescue their children. They share joys as well as sorrows. They are experts in grieving, bound together for eternity.They continue to search for the meaning of their children's deaths, not wanting them to be forgotten.
BETWEEN TWO PAGES:Children of Substance honors their memory. These children were loved! They have moms and dads,brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles and friends who miss them and mourn them. These parents don't want another child to die from substance abuse, and they certainly don't want another parent to suffer the agony that they have.
The title of the book, BETWEEN TWO PAGES:Children of Substance, has
deep meaning for the grief parents. The first part, BETWEEN TWO PAGES,
refers to a memory book. On the first page is a birth announcement; the last
page, a death certificate. It was the title and subject of a Memorial and
speech to honor Jared Ryan Jackson Lowry by his Mother Jennifer Daley.
The second part, Children of Substance, was the title of an essay by Susan
Hubenthal in remembrance of her son Kelly Arthur Hubenthal. It has, now,
become a nonprofit organization.
The Children of Substance Foundation (www.childsub.org)was organized to continue the writing and publishing of books and other literature, and to offer support to grieving parents whose children have died from substance abuse. It gives a voice to our dead children in hopes that our losses can help others avoid our private hell. If your child has died from substance abuse, then you know the agony of life without your child.
The GriefNet parents of BETWEEN TWO PAGES:Children of Substance
understand your pain. In the sharing of these stories, they hope it will help you
heal. With so many drug related deaths around the globe, we know this book
can reach many wounded hearts. Our hope is to give comfort to those whose
lives have been profoundly affected by drugs. Ours is a universal story that
speaks a common language. We honor our children with this book, and we
want to reach those who have been unsympathetic to our plight.
All royalties, from this book, will go into the Children of Substance Foundation and GriefNet.
We have lost the "War On Drugs," yet we wish to help others find hope
and strength to continue the fight.