Jean was 33 when he passed away from an accidental opioid overdose. Some told us how lucky we were to have had him in our lives for 33 years. While that is true, our hearts knew there is Never a ‘good’ time to bury a child. Not at 33 years, 33 days, or 33 minutes… Not ever. We didn’t just lose him at the moment of his passing. We lost him at every future stage, along with every hope for him, and every dream.

Jean graduated from Cal Poly with a B.S. in English. His career was focused on education, specifically, a high school educator. In his personal life, he was a devoted fan of the CA Angels, a private pilot, he cared deeply about animals, and had recently become engaged to the love of his life.

Jean’s smile and kind eyes endeared him to so many. He shook hands with sincerity and warmth. His enthusiastic bear hugs were memorable. His robust laughter filled a room with joy. We miss him with every breath we take, every beat of our hearts.

For us, the passing of our son presented many different and conflicting beliefs and feelings common to this journey, but NOT to us. In the early days of our son’s passing, we were heartsick as we awakend day after day to the nightmare of child loss. All we wanted was to be with our son. We were continually consumed by loneliness, gut-wrenching sorrow, and heartache. How could parents survive a minute or a day, let alone a WHOLE YEAR without their child?

It was the support of kind and caring friends met through GRASP and Families Anonymous that was the key to our survival.