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

Heart of gold a smile that would light up any room

Our laughs, jokes, and riding in my passenger seat of my car

Looking at his smile and hearing his laugh

An amazing boy who would help anyone in need

Jojo was a funny guy, who loved hard and always took care of the people he loved. He would light up a room and always bring a smile to our faces.

So many but mostly the nights we would just stay up listening to music together and crack up over nothing.

His laugh, our jokes, the understanding we had of each other and our struggles and the fact that he’s missing seeing his little girl grow up.

As the funny, kind guy he was who would do whatever he could to make you laugh and help a friend.

Kelly was the sweetest person on this earth! She was my world! I miss her so much.

Everything!

Loved!

Brittany was so much fun to be around, she always knew how to make you smile or laugh. She had an amazing singing voice and loved to sing. She loved being with family, the water, and loved her daughter.

All the memories I have are my favorite. Not one would I toss away. She always said with different experiences that it "made us stronger."

Just the hugs and hearing her say "Mommy" like she used to when she was younger, she did that up until the last time we were together. The texts, phone calls, duo calls, everything.

She would like to be remembered as someone who loved her daughter and wanted more than anything to be a good mother to her 3 year old daughter. Drugs stole so much time between the two.

Gavin was the smartest, most challenging person that I have met. He knew more than most people about topics I'd never heard of, and spent his short life chasing ideas that validated knowledge as the only source of power that no one could take away.

A few months before he died. I took Gavin from Maine to the bus station in Boston. Driven by thinly controlled mania and one month of sobriety, he was desperate to find a new life in California, away from his old contacts and habits. It was the first and only time that I'd ever seen my big brother truly scared. That vulnerability gave way to a 3-hour drive of casual chats and joking around where, instead of an advocate and daily caregiver, I just got to be his little sister, one last time.

Gavin always made it home for Christmas -- no matter what state he was living in, no matter how deep the drugs had their hold. For 33 years, it was the one day that my parents and I could count on seeing him, the real him. During the bad years, when every phone call was an overdose, a plea for bail, or just heartbreaking sadness because the world was just not built for him, that one day was our family's gift to help us all overcome the other 364.

Gavin was more than his addiction. He was an artist, until the alcohol took his ability to hold a pencil. He was a steadfast friend, until the paranoia made it too hard for him to trust others. He was an intense conversationalist, until the lithium slowed everything down. He was a hard worker, until his need for heroin was just too strong to hold a job. Gavin would want to be remembered as so much more than his addiction, but our system is built to make sure that is all he was left with.

Racheal could light up a room by just being there. She had an old soul that attracted all walks of life and she tried to help anyone she could sometimes with disregard to herself! She was an all around amazing person.

We will all miss her smile, her selfies, and her good hearted personality.

Michael loved life and everything within it. He was compassionate and loving. A true outdoorsman who loved hunting and fishing; most of all his Black Labrador Levi

Far too many, but one of the most recent was spending time with him in Topsail Beach over Thanksgiving. We ran the dogs on the beach and had great conversations about the past and our dreams of the future.

His smile and contagious laugh

A loving son, brother and friend to many. Michael had a wonderful and compassionate soul.

Aaron was brilliant, an amazing singer songwriter Incredibly creative. He graduated valedictorian from Concordia College, taught special education afterwards on a NYC fellowship. He was funny, loving, sensitive, a giver of the most thoughtful gifts

He loved his family. He always wanted to do the right thing. He loved people. He was very kind especially to anyone in trouble. He was charismatic. He was handsome. He was very gentle. He trusted people. He loved his dog, Harvey. He was a caring, loving son.

I miss him every single day. My heart is aching. My beautiful boy passed away on the last day of summer into the waiting arms of our merciful Savior.

Aaron was an incredibly strong person. He tried SO many, many, many times. So many times. He was deeply loved. I think he would want to be remembered as the kind, gentle, loving soul he was.

A brother, a friend and a free spirit. Jimmy attacked life with passion and reckless abandonment. Jimmy would rather go into every lane on the road then try to stay in just one lane.

Jimmy and Coral Reef Park, need I say more...

Jimmy had a quirky but amazing sense of humor.

Alyson was a free-spirited, old soul who loved meeting new people and nurturing children and animals. Alyson had a child-like way of looking at the complexities of the world, finding the good in people and the beauty in nature around her.

Her smile, laugh, unique creativity, and corny joke telling.

Alyson would like to be remembered as adventurous, kind and nurturing (with a particular sweet spot for underdogs and a desire to care for them), as well as for deeply loving her family.

Beautiful human being. Always helping others.

Beautiful smile!

His big bear hugs!

A good-hearted young man. He was more then a label. He was a unique & very special person . Loved his family & loyal friend.

Kaygen has the kind of soul that should live on forever. Every time I compliment someone, every time I want to save a stray animal, every time I want to wipe someone’s tears - I will do so in remembrance of my sweet friend.

Remember Kaygen as a woman who loved the best and worst in everyone. She loved love and knew how impactful love can be to our lives. Her ability to make anyone feel beautiful made her, her. Remember her as someone who never gave up and fought a tough battle for long enough. I know that she would hope her story will help someone else.

Nick was the kind of person that once you met him, he made an impact on you. He really was blessed with gifts from God

Nick was an exceptional skater

His beautiful smile

I think Nick would like to be remembered as a man on fire for the Lord and a mentor to young boys in the skating community

She was always protective of her family. She loved her son with all of her heart. He was her world. She was so beautiful and funny. People gravitated toward her to know her better because she had a beautiful face, heart, & spirit.

Taking road trips, blaring music with the windows down, and laughing with her.

She was a protective big sister so I knew she would always have my back. I miss sharing my concerns but also my good news with her.

She would like to be remembered as a great mom, a caring nurse, a protective big sister, and a huge OU football fan.

Turner could put a smile on anyone’s face. He was engaging, friendly and kind to everyone. You could talk to him about anything and he would never judge you.

I miss his hugs, long talks about nothing but also everything, and cooking the best food together.

He should be remembered as a person that always gave more than he received and would put everyone else first before himself.

The smartest, kindest person you could ever know. Full of great potential, yet suffered greatly with lack of self-esteem.

My favorite memory of Shane, watching him SK8 board and nail every trick. Seeing him Graduate HS in 2011,
1 year ahead of his class due to his grades (GPA).

I will miss most, Shane's laughter & great smile, my history lessons he would teach me on a nightly basis watching "Jeopardy", and simply his presense !

Helping Others In Need. Shane had much empathy for the homeless and gave his very last $dollar and cents to a homeless man standing at our local gas station (2) weeks prior to him passing away.
Shane said to the homeless man; Hey man, this will help you more than it will help me...this is my last dollar to my name. I wish I had more to give you but maybe you can get a drink or something !

Guy had a beautiful spiritual soul that was empathetic and eager to please. He loved his family and his cat and he tried so hard to stay in recovery from his dual diagnosis. He had the biggest plans, and now he lives on in the lives his memory saves.

Guy loved meeting for Mexican food, Starbucks, church, and just having good heart to heart talks. He had a great sense of humor, a bit salty at times, but missed his calling as a comedian. There are too many favorite memories to name just one.

Simple~ I miss his hugs and hearing him say, “I love you, mom.”

Guy would like to be remembered as a nice person, which he was, who treated others with the dignity and respect that he was not always provided. He was a man of faith and he knew God loved him.

Andy was my little brother. Struggled years with substance abuse. He had a heart of gold and always put others first, throughout everything. He's missed dearly, every single day.

His heart of gold and infectious smile.

Rachel was beautiful, charming, funny and full of life. She lived life to the fullest. She is missed by all who knew her and I am blessed God gave her to me for 24 years.

My favorite memory was watching her determination as a little girl as she learned to ride her bicycle without training wheels. She would prop that bike on the tree out back, get on her bike as the tree balanced it, and take off. She would go a few feet and fall over. I watched from my kitchen window while she did this over and over for a good two hours until she at last mastered it. She has that kind of determination in all she did.

Her singing off key like nobody was listening. Her and her sister laughing together. Her beautiful eyes that held so much wonder. Her enjoying and loving her nephew. She always said he was probably the only human she loved more than she loved herself.

She would want people to remember how she would light up a room the second she walked in. She was always happy and fun to be around. She was honest and sincere.

Quirky, beautiful, super intelligent, highly creative, compassionate and loving, born to be gliding on wheels or a board, and emotionally vulnerable.

Reading stories together on the hammock, lost in time.

His love, his humor, and seeing him realize his incredible potential. He knew the struggle, and wanted to help people.

He left words behind. “For all those who are lost and broken, remember you are worth it. Love yourself for who you are.”