By the time Jesse was 10, he was getting drunk on anything he could find: mouthwash, huffing, OTC, meds. By 15, harder things were used. Sometime around 16, he found heroin. When he turned 18, he hd already been in a boot camp, multiple intensive care units and innumerable short and long term rehab facilities.

we tried everything: threatening, encouraging, loving, ostrascizing, evicting into the cold of winter, homeless shelters. Tough love, soft love and just plain love effected no change.

Ater a stint in rehab, he was doing so well. He looked healthy and I knew he was clean. That was part of the problem. He got a hold of something stronger than he'd anticipated. We found him dead in his apartment the next day.

How does this happen? He wasn't raised this way. He was raised with love and caring, just like his brother.

We miss him so. We miss you, Jesse. You were an important part of our lives and, four years later, there is a big hole where you used to be.