LYNN — Jack and Mary Gentleman, a married couple, built a display of the Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall on the front lawn of their residence on Lynnfield Street on Thursday.
The display is to memorialize their son, Craig Gentleman, who died of a fentanyl overdose at 34 years old on April 22, 2020, and to honor others who have died of overdoses, Mary Gentleman said.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration observes International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31, according to its website, and Mary Gentleman said she is keeping the display on her front lawn to observe the month.
“To me, it’s the whole month,” she said. “They deserve more than a day… This should be up all year round.”
“The Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall is a virtual international wall honoring our loved ones,” the administration’s website reads. “This stunning, heartbreaking, and seemingly endless stream of precious lives is a powerful visual created for healing, education, raising awareness, and honoring our loved ones by saving lives.”
Mary Gentleman said, as a family member of someone on the wall, she was able to submit a virtual copy of a banner of the wall. She printed it out and her husband built the display for their yard. The banner displayed in their yard is just of the Massachusetts-specific virtual wall.
“We just want people to know that we have a disaster going on in this country,” she said. “This is just Massachusetts… This is just a little drop in the bucket.”
Everyone is affected by the issue, Mary Gentleman said.
“People need to know (that) it can happen to anybody,” she said. “People don’t want to hear it. They don’t want to hear it.”
The full Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall can be found on https://drugepidemicmemorial.org .
