Dear Gentle Reader

Where do I start? Firstly, my little sister died on March 22. She was an addict and in the most severe mental anguish I've ever encountered on this journey. I know she is no longer suffering and in heaven.

But, now I am in Florida to say goodbye to her with with remainder of my family staying with my mother. Yes, she too is an addict. I have yet to encounter what that actually looks like until this trip. Now that I too am an adult I can see with my eyes wide open, and she is caught still in her sickness.

I pray that she will not fall into the abyss where my sister and her daughter went before her death. She needs God's overwhelming strength to get through this. Unfortunately, my sister died in this very room in which I am writing this to you down the hall from my mother. My mother was the last person in this world that my dear sister saw.

This is so traumatic for my mother that I am quietly and patiently waiting for her to show some glimmer of hope. May God grant this prayer for me.

Always enduring and praising your name, amen.