The National Addiction Memorial honors the loved ones we’ve lost.

He was a beautiful soul. Cared so much for his loved ones and just wanted to be loved back. After he passed, so many of his friends who also struggled with addiction told us stories about Luis taking them in and giving them shelter and food when they didn't have anywhere else to turn. He always wanted everyone else to be ok but struggled with his own wellbeing. He's missed so much.

My brother struggled for more than half his life with addiction. He lost his battle on August 29, 2019. He passed away surrounded by his family due to complications from using dirty needles. Josh had a heart bigger than life and would do anything for his friends and family. His favorite things in life were the birth of his daughter in 2018 and spending time with his niece and nephew. His one wish in life was for those around him to do better than him. If his story could save just one person from this disease, he would be forever grateful. My brothers story and memories will forever live through us. I won’t ever give up the fight for him.

There are no words, but I will try-
On July 28th, our beloved son CJ found eternal rest. He is at peace, but we are shattered.
CJ was many things - a loving son and grandson, a fiercely protective brother, a caring, chivalrous boyfriend, and a loyal friend. He was a charmer with a big bright spirit and an out of the box approach to life. He had a deep love of music and was a talented musician, an all around athlete, and a valued team member. He lit up every room he entered and uplifted his teammates and coworkers with his sly smile and quick wit. He had a bright future.
He also suffered from addiction - a horrible, insidious disease that he fought bravely, but it stole him from us. Our only solace is knowing he is at peace and we pray that we may find it again someday soon.
Rest In Peace Boombie- you are loved and missed beyond measure.

My brother was a kind hearted, loving, caring, intelligent, creative, funny, give you the shirt off his back kind of human being. He was a sensitive and beautiful soul. He was a loving son, brother and friend to many. He went through a lot in life and struggled throughout with addiction on and off. He tried copious times to get clean only to be thwarted by the system as well as doctors and stigma surrounding the disease of addiction. It's time to end the stigma and treat addiction as it should be treated. My brother deserves to be here still, just as so many others do. It's a great disservice to this world that he's not here, and to all of us that know him, love him and miss him every single second of every day. It's now been a full decade my brother has been gone. The pain is always here. I can't do anything about that. I can try to help others, though. Please donate in my brother's name so that others will hopefully have a chance and other family and friends don't have to go through what me and my family, and countless others families, have and will go through. Much love! 💜💜💜

Jonathan was a beloved son, brother, uncle, nephew, grandson, cousin, co-worker, friend, and much more. He was his parents only son and named after his grandfather Robert. He will be forever missed and loved.

Amity means friendship. Amity was my big sister! She went by Amy. She was the most soulful, free person I’ve ever known. She was a mother, a sister, a daughter, a friend, and the favorite aunt to her nieces and nephews. She taught so many lessons while she was here and so many more since she has passed! She taught forgiveness love happiness joy and kindness while she was here, and since she has passed she has brought many people together through their love and through her struggles with addiction. I didn’t know it was possible to live with a broken heart but yet here I am. Addiction steals the most beautiful souls. It is never happy until it steals you. I really hope here death helped someone else live. I hope they saw and felt this pain and made the choice to get help.

My son struggled with addiction for 20 years. He had periods of recovery and relapses. He had several wounds he was trying to mask. He felt guilt and shame with his addiction. He was a fighter. He was a loving father and son. He was a glass glacier by trade and was very proud of that. He loved to fish and had several fish tanks. He has a great love for animals. He became a group leader in recovery and touched a lot of lives. Now I am a tool for helping others through you. Rob, I miss you! I miss your sense of humor, your love of Halloween, hanging out with you watching movies and laughing. You were a great son, you always respected me! Love you to the moon and back, my son!

Kristen was so talented. She played piano, sang beautifully, was artistic, loved gymnastics, ice skating, cheerleading but most of all loved everyone! A smart loving child who struggled with addiction in her late teens, but was so much more! Our angel sends us signs that she knows she was loved and is at peace! Addiction has no boundaries!

Teddy was a modern-day Pied Piper with an endless stream of friends that loved his energy, warmth, and spirit of adventure. If you met him once, you knew him forever. You were part of his fan club. He was the charismatic leader of the Band of Brothers. He was the Good Samaritan that crossed the road for every one of his friends and family. Teddy was at his happiest when he made a positive impact on an individual, whether a classmate at boarding school, a child in Malawi, or a college friend trying to beat drugs.

Just before his tragic death, Teddy was moving forward with a plan to overcome his alcohol and drug addiction, graduate from college in the spring and join the US Marines, his life-long passion. Teddy would want us to honor his life by continuing the fight to overcome alcohol and drug addiction, as he strived to do during his brief and unforgettable life.

Kyle is a loving friend, brother, uncle, son. He spent 15+ years struggling in his disease. Our story is like most others, in and out of treatment (when we could get it), jail, homelessness. It's a horrible life to live. Kyle enjoyed living life to its fullest, enjoying music and entertainment. I wish there was more for Kyle. I wish things could have been different. He is greatly loved and missed!

Jacqueline “Jackie” Bodiford, a resident of Northport, Alabama, passed away on August 26, 2019. She was a 1970 graduate of Winfield High School in Winfield, Alabama, and a 1983 graduate of the Bryan School of Nursing in Lincoln, Nebraska. She was a Sky Med flight nurse for the University of Nebraska Medical Center for just under a decade. Her career in nursing also called her to work with psychiatric patients, premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and in the Emergency Department. Jackie followed her roots back to Alabama in 2009 where she resided until her death. She was a talented medical professional and an ardent animal lover.

Picture: Jackie's graduation photo from Bryan School of Nursing; a proud and defining moment in her life, not her addiction.

🌻 Our beautiful little girl, our baby, our angel, our hero... You have made the most amazing memories for your family to cherish. You have touched every single soul you’ve ever crossed paths with, your energy, your love for life and everything in it shined through your smile and your heart every single day. This is not goodbye. It’s another part of your journey, and you have decided to continue your journey the only way you know how and what you’ve always done giving to others. We listened to the surgery teams land above us by helicopter... we wept... we prayed... we kissed you and watched you enter the operating room to give your huge beautiful heart, your liver, your kidneys, your pancreas, and your big beautiful green eyes! Your little sisters will forever cherish the love and memories with you. We love you princess. You will be with us everywhere we go and with everything that we do. 🌻 We make a wish every single day at 11:11 as you did! 💫💚

Rickey was a very fun and lovable person. Very talented and outgoing. Believed in living life to the fullest. He was a good man and a wonderful father! He lost his life being murdered by someone who was deep into their own addiction. Even though I know he is at peace and celebrating with Our Lord and Savior it doesn’t take the pain away. I pray all the people who are suffering from addiction reach out and try to get help before it leads them to a life in prison or, much worse, death.

Shaun struggled with addiction for many years. He started with pills like so many of his young friends. He gradually moved onto other drugs ending with heroin. It’s heartbreaking. I never expected to lose my 28 year old son.

35 years ago our mother, Joan, was a thriving single mother, business professional, active and athletic, healthy person who lit up any room she entered. Then a vehicle accident caused by a drunk driver left our mother with a broken neck, having to relearn how to walk, among other injuries, and ultimately introduced her to opioids. At the time, opioid addiction was never even in the back of anyone's mind. This addiction proved to be a gateway for her into many other forms of addiction, prematurely taking the fun-loving mother we once knew away from us. Due to complications related to those addictions, we ultimately lost her. There is no easy way to cope with the loss of a loved one, especially losing one to addiction. But, hopefully the stories shared on here will help save someone else's life.

In Loving Memory of:
Allison Mason, my mommy
From her children-Jordan & Jace,
her parents, brother, and all that loved her.
I love you!

Kevin became addicted to meth about six years ago. He had three bouts of sobriety in that time, two for six months and one for two months. He became further addicted while in prison and began using heroin off and on. Kevin truly would use any drug given to him, but he got worse after he was released from prison. Two months ago he was ready to get sober. He went to rehab for the first time and was doing fantastic. He had a slip while cleaning his room and came across a shard of meth and wasn’t yet strong enough to throw it out. He used it, stayed up until the next day, came home and told us that he had messed up and was going to get back on track but he needed to get some sleep first. He went to bed and never woke up. Kevin was such a character, smart, funny, and spontaneous. So loved and will be missed. He is forever in our hearts.

Shane was a former student, the class of ‘97 Hale Rangers. He was a happy go lucky athlete. One of the boys, always smiling. He was a jokester but never really meant harm.

Shauna was my former student, my son’s former coworker and former employee and my granddaughter’s former coworker. She was a high school dance team member. Most of all Shauna was loving, funny to the point of silly. She had sparkling blue eyes, dimples, and a smile like sunshine.

Ben loved life and loved others deeply. Sensitive, intelligent, caring, strongly athletic, introverted, often suffered in silence, very capable, quietly confident. He suffered a knee injury playing ice hockey and was given an opioid painkiller. He must have been susceptible to these substances and developed a regular pattern of substance use. He fought hard against the disease, including successful rehab and halfway house programs. I don’t think he got the medical treatment he needed to heal his brain; he was very wary of programs that basically tried to argue or counsel you into health—ultimately he was cheated by recovery systems supposedly there to help.