James ( JP) Patrick Pritchard

He was a sensitive and intuitive person. He was always able to read other people's feelings and ready to talk to anyone who needed a good listener. He got lost on his life path when he was about 16 or 17 years old. He had a good friend commit suicide and also experienced his family structure fall apart when his dad cheated on his mom and ultimately moved out. At that time he also learned he had a half brother from an affair his father had years previously shattering his lifelong image of his father and as himself as the oldest son. In retrospect it is clear now that JP used alcohol and drugs to numb the pain and sadness he was feeling at that time and over the years his addiction got the upper hand. He was super smart and always thought he could outsmart his addiction and also didn't want to be the guy who couldn't drink alcohol. He struggled with opiate and alcohol addiction for about 10 years. He asked for help at times and was on suboxone 2 different times but I believe he had so much shame, was unable to find a compassionate doctor that wanted to help, resisted going to rehab and ultimately he stopped seeking help and just hid his addictions. He died at the age of 29. He did not overdose but he got himself into an unsafe and volatile situation, had a very high blood alcohol level and suffered a severe beating. He lived for 2 weeks in an ICU but ultimately his brain injury was too severe and his body shut down and we had to take him off life support,

My favorite memory of JP is a Christmas morning when he was about 12. He had bought me ( his mom) a pair of PJ pants as a gift and when I was opening his gift to me, he stopped what he was doing which was opening a gift to him and watched as I opened his gift to be sure I was pleased. That is JP - always wanting to make sure others were happy. Another crazy memory is the day he died: he had been in a coma for 2 weeks and did not open and focus his eyes the whole time. As he was being taken off the drugs that were keeping his heart going, I was standing next to him, rubbing his forehead and talking to him. Shortly before he died, he opened his one good eye very wide and looked directly at me. He seemed he wanted to see me and let me know he knew I was there. I talked to him and then his eye closed and shortly thereafter his heart stopped beating. He loved me and I loved him.

I will miss his wit, him telling me he loves me, talking on the phone about the constellations and the phases of the moon. I am sad that his life did not play out as I believe it was supposed to, the person he was when he struggled with substance use was not the person he started out to be as a young boy. I will always wonder who he would have been if he had not gotten derailed with addiction.

I think JP would like to be remembered as a loyal son, brother, boyfriend and friend. His relationships were very important to him. He was social and enjoyed having many friends. He had a long time girl friend that he loved and was proud of. He was also dedicated as a big brother to his 2 younger sisters as well as a "father" to his dog Zoso. He was also a great cook - I think he would like to be remembered though some of his yummy recipes which we have captured in a recipe book.