Annual overdose vigil held at Lynn Commons

LYNN – Swampscott resident Paula Stinson lost her son John four years ago to a drug overdose. On Friday night, Stinson spoke about her ordeal at the Eighth Annual Night of Remembrance Overdose Vigil on the Lynn Commons.Stinson described her son as a “wonderful, funny, kind soul.””Your life after losing a child will never be the same,” said Stinson. “After John’s passing, everyone went back to their lives and jobs. I had nothing to go back to. I had been laid off from my job and felt so alone and heartbroken.”More than 200 people gathered in front of the Frederick Douglass Bandstand, many with candles in hand, to remember their loved ones who passed away from drug overdoses.View a photo gallery.People wrote notes and remembrances to their loved ones at a prayer table, then wrote their names in a book to be read aloud.Mary Wheeler, Program Director for the Healthy Streets Outreach Program at Northeast Behavioral Health, started the vigil eight years ago to shine a light on drug addiction.”The idea is that they’re all someone we loved and it reduces the stigma of substance abuse so we can raise awareness about how many folks die every year in Massachusetts,” said Wheeler. “We try to veer away from the political side and try to remember who these folks were.”After she spoke, Stinson read a letter she wrote to her son four months after he passed away.”It was so hard to see you struggle,” said Stinson. “Looking back I wish I had done things differently as I’m sure you probably did also ? I keep hearing your voice saying it’s all about acceptance. With God and you by my side I will go on. I will try to keep your memory alive.”Since her son’s passing, Stinson started a grief group called GRASP, Grief Recovery After a Substance Passing, in Salem.Susan Stevens of Medford spoke about her first-born son Benjamin, who died in 2007 at the age of 26. Stevens told stories about her son’s childhood, like how he loved to cook and how he was voted “most likely to have his own talk show” in high school.Stevens said her son’s addiction to heroin was “short-lived.””He was probably an addict for four years,” said Stevens after she spoke to the crowd. “Two days before he died he had an allergic reaction and went to Mass General. After he quit drugs he used to have panic attacks so they gave him Klonopin and I think that’s what set him off. Two days later I went out for half an hour and I came home and found him in the shower unresponsive.”Stevens said events like Friday’s vigil and support groups help her cope with the loss.Saugus resident Rose Amicone was holding a candle to remember her friend Jaime O’Hare, who recently passed away. Amicone, who has been clean for four years, said being at the vigil helps with her recovery.”I really don’t like to come to events like this because I get real emotional,” said Amicone. “It’s just to remember everyone. Sometimes I don’t even know that people passed away and they’re mentioning everyone’s names and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, he died? I didn’t even realize.’ It gives me the strength to keep doing what I’m doing.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].