https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/madelyn-linsenmeir-1988-2018/Content?oid=21797604
Wow. How sad, but nevertheless that’s a lovely obituary.
Yes sad but I thought well-written, honest, and humanizing.
Heartbreaking.
Wow. So sad. And that photo. 
Just lovely and sad
What a beautiful obituary. What a loss for the family.
I have shared in the past that my brother died of an opioid overdose; it’s been 9 years now. He was addicted to drugs in high school, and he kicked the habit in his mid-20’s. He lost his wife as a result of his addiction, but he stayed close to his daughter. He was sober for almost 20 years, until a car accident left him with pain that was treated with opioids. That was the beginning of the end, although he tried very hard to kick his habit. In the months before he died, he went to rehab twice. To most of the world, he seemed to have it together - he had a good job that he did well. In the end, though, it all spun out of control. We were not surprised when he died, a death we term “accidentally on purpose.” My brother was not perfect, but he was a good man who was loved by family and friends. Addiction rhymes with ducks.
@kelsmom, thank you for sharing your story. I am so sorry about your brother. @doschicos, thank you for sharing the obituary. One of my close family members, who is only 24, suffers from heroin addition, and it is beyond heartbreaking. Other family members also suffer or have suffered from addiction to other substances, and I fear my teens are especially susceptible genetically.
I’m so glad we’re coming to realize that opioid addiction is a disease that people struggle with. Quite a difference from my young adulthood, when heroin addiction, which particularly affected the black community, was thought of as a moral failing.
That was difficult to click on because I knew it would be heartbreaking. But you’re right - it was heartbreaking and beautiful and poignant and frank all at the same time. <3
I think this was a beautiful obituary but I really struggle with understanding opioid addiction. I just find this mid blowing “Soon after she tried OxyContin for the first time at a high school party, and so began a relationship with opiates that would dominate the rest of her life.”
Imagine if someone said “ the first time I tried broccoli I knew I could never stop eating it”. You’d be like why??
I’ve taken Oxy Contin and because of my own phisiology I can’t understand how it could pleasure to anyone or what kind of pleasure it gives. . When I’ve read many stories about addiction they seem to “ Yada yada” over the reason that people get addicted. What was it about it that someone would like the first time they take it that they want to repeat? You’d be surprised how often this is omitted from discussions of addiction. For someone like me that would be helpful in understanding.
I heard a speaker once on addiction and asked this question and he went on and on about withdrawal. But that has nothing to do with the first time user who wants it again. He acted like he didn’t understand the question.
Well that is one sad obit. heartbreaking honestly.
@maya54 I have often wondered the same thing…my brother and I consider ourselves to have the least addictive personalities going and a few years ago we joked about trying meth after hearing an interview where a doctor said if you take it once, “you can never stop.” My brother said, “I bet we could stop.” But then we chickened out. 
I’m no expert on addiction but my understanding is that some people’s genetic makeup is such that they are more prone to falling victim to addiction than others. We’re not all created the same. What isn’t an issue for you, or others, is for some people.
Additionally, not all things are equally addictive. Opioids definitely have very addictive properties, hence the problems. Broccoli just doesn’t. You can’t compare the two. Not even all drugs represent the same risks.
Person with genetic makeup that makes them prone to addiction + highly addictive drug = the opioid issue we have in our country.
<>…how true. It’s brain chemistry.
… brain chemistry, and a cynical pharmaceutical industry exploiting a broken health care system…
@doschicos You don’t understand my question. It is “what does an opioid do for people who have that brain chemistry that makes them like it?”
For example I understand that with alcohol most people find it pleasurable because it relieves their stress and makes them feel less inhibited socially. While only some have the brain chemistry to get addicted to alcohol one can understand what it is about it that makes people want to to have it again.
But an opioid? Why? Again I ask what is it about it that makes people want it after one time when it was t about releving some physical ailment ( and you fell into the same non answer that I find many discussing opioid do). Opioids have relieved my pain but otherwise make me feel headachy or nuseaous. Obviously they don’t have this effect on those that get addicted but what exactly is it that they do?
Pain relief and the high that comes with it? I’m not sure it’s more complicated than that. I’m sure it relieves stress, too. Plenty of stuff online about it. Also, remember that addicts are often abusing prescription drugs in the sense that they are taking a larger dose and/or taking it in a way that increases the impact.
https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/oxycontin-addiction/oxycontin-high/#gref
https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/oxycontin-addiction/what-is-oxycontin-high-like/#gref
@maya54 I also wondered similar thoughts. If you get hooked from a single use, is there no hope for many people? If genetics, then was it just very unfortunate — a chance — that this beautiful person tried it out of curiosity, and had she not tried it that one time, she would be fine? So this would mean that the wisest course is we should avoid everything, such as alcohol and cigarettes, which might be addictive? Maybe my kid is being wise in not wanting to even take a sip of wine?
Beautifully written obituary. Hopefully, this will help even one addict to find strength to overcome this beast of disease. Then, it would have been worth it.
I found the eulogy uplifting but ultimately achingly sad. Not entirely for the woman and her loved ones but for the vulnerabilities in human beings that cause so much damage and pain.
Also, tangentially, one of the strongest arguments against separate existence of souls aside from material bodies to me is the fact that chemicals warp and affect our brains so completely. I am currently reading some books on evolution of human intelligence etc to see if persuasive ideas exist.
Opioids diminish pain signals and increase pleasure signals in the brain. They produce a euphoric feeling. Broccoli, in contrast, is not a euphoric.
Different people react differently to different substances. That’s before you even get to the addiction factor.
Even marijuana, not generally considered very addictive—many people enjoy how it makes them feel, but some don’t. Benadryl makes most people drowsy, but it hypes some people up.
I think I tend towards non-addictive. I smoked socially in college and for a couple of years after. Had no trouble quitting. My mother smoked a couple of cigarettes a day when I was young and apparently just quit one day. I consider myself very lucky to have gotten that gene. Because nicotine is quite addictive for most people.