Timothy Patrick Kurdzo
Tim was a beloved son, brother, uncle, and friend to so many people. He had a great job, loved the outdoors, and had a passion for skateboarding, video games, snowmobiling, fishing, boating, and anything having a loud engine. Tim was funny, caring, and supportive to his friends and family. He had a dream he could one day open a skateboard park for young people.
The picture above is him with his beloved niece, who he so dearly loved.
We believe Tim's problem started with prescription pain killers after a back injury from a skateboarding accident in college.
We thought he was ok. All seemed good. But on March 6, he took something that had fentanyl in it and his life ended. This has shattered all who love him. And as I read in the first days after we lost him, a quote from Mary Devine, author of "It's Ok that you're not OK": "You need someone to hold your hands while you stand there in blinking horror, staring at the hole that was your life. Some things cannot be fixed. They can only be carried.”
Tim was a high functioning young adult, with a good job, good pay, and good friends. But it pains me to think of how he must have felt, hiding this from his family and his friends. I know he loved us dearly, and if he can see us now, I'm sure it pains him to see how much we are suffering. But, Tim, I know you didn't mean to die, and I want you to know, it's okay, I'm not mad, I love you just like that first moment I looked into your eyes the day you were born, just like all the days when you gave us that silly smile when we took your picture, just like the day in 2016 when you promised me I will never get that dreaded call, just like last Wednesday (March 6, 2019) when I got the dreaded call, just like yesterday (March 13, 2019) when I said goodbye for the last time to the body I thought of as you.
We are devastated, and we want to help to save others from suffering this loss. Tim promised me he was not going to die. He was sure of it. But someone put an especially bad poison in what he took the night of March 5, that was so powerful and dangerous, they tell us he died almost instantly. He wasn't getting stuff from people he didn't know. I'm sure he thought death was not a real risk, or he wouldn't have done it.
Please, if you have this problem, know that you too are playing Russian roulette with your life, and as much as you want to not believe it, and as much as Tim didn't want to believe it, one day that bullet will be in the chamber for you. Please get help now.
Please don't let Tim die in vain. If his death saves one life, we will be forever grateful.