Pubdate: Wed, 11 May 2016 Source: Buffalo News (NY) Copyright: 2016 The Buffalo News Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/GXIzebQL Website: http://www.buffalonews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/61 Author: Sue Giovino Note: Sue Giovino is currently a student at SUNY Buffalo State pursuing a degree in human services and art therapy. NO FAMILY IS IMMUNE TO CLUTCHES OF ADDICTION Death is one of the greatest personifications there is. It visits all of us and gets very personal. Continually we are inundated with statistics of all kinds of deaths. These include the horrors of terrorism, shootings, suicides, abortions, plane crashes and cancer. These stats seem to keep death at a comfortable bay, deluding us into thinking we will never be part of the masses. In fact, at times we reluctantly find ourselves viewing with morbid fascination the demise of others. Somehow we can stay detached because "the visitor" has not yet come to our door. Recently, we could no longer find security or anonymity in being "untouched." There was a knock on our door. My amazing nephew, Bobby Nunzio Giovino, succumbed to the clutches of heroin addiction at 25. Sue Giovino is currently a student at SUNY Buffalo State pursuing a degree in human services and art therapy. Erie County's health commissioner says, "there's something we all can do." What exactly is that? Local, state and national attention is being summoned by this epidemic. Many of our elected officials are on board. Locally, the proposed addiction hotline could result in much help. This is good. We need to utilize all of the frontline weapons we can. Ultimately, is this a private battle that only an addict can fight? Maybe on some levels, but I would venture to say that if you have a loved one who is fighting addiction, get in the ring with him, let him see you in his corner, encouraging, praying and fighting for victory on his behalf. We no longer wear black armbands while mourning, as George Bailey did in "It's a Wonderful Life." It's a shame, really, that emotional brokenness is not displayed or as obvious as physical brokenness, such as a cast or wheelchair. Folks could gaze at the armband and better understand one's random breakdown in the middle of the grocery store. One wouldn't have to offer an explanation or, even worse, suppress it until in a context that isn't so vulnerable. Then again, there are those who rest comfortably in their solitude of imperceptible grief. In March, we were able to witness Black Balloon Day in downtown Buffalo, which displayed one balloon for every life that has been stolen by opioid addiction. That day, the balloon was the black armband, because every balloon was attached to a heart, with the unmistakable need to expose, if only for a moment, the emotional, unrelenting brokenness. Young says: "I sing the song because I love the man." I write this piece because I loved the boy, the man, the fighter Bobby. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom