Another Life Lost to Addiction

Oualette: Christ, where the **** you from, kid?

Shane: The suburbs.

- Weeds

Last night my mother told me a former neighbor of ours had passed, that she had overdosed in a homeless shelter.

Her son has been living with her mother, presumably since she lost their last house.

When celebrities overdose it's usually in swanky hotels or apartments, like John Belushi, Chris Farley, Heath Ledger, or Amy Winehouse (who died from withdrawal-- but she wouldn't have been withdrawing if she hadn't been addicted). That's not what happens to average people.

While she and her son were living across the street from us they never had food in the house, the six-year-old boy would be so hungry he'd beg us and the other neighbors for food. Their apartment was so infested with mice that when they moved out so many mice moved to the downstairs neighbor's apartment that the family living there had to go to a hotel for a week while it was fumigated.

The woman, the one who just passed, would conduct drug deals out of her mailbox-- at strange times of day she would leave an envelope in her mailbox, then within the hour a strange car would drive up, someone would get out, take the envelope out of her mailbox and put another in before leaving. This happened often enough that we began recording license plate numbers.

Also, several times a week, strange cars would pull up to the house and a man would go inside with her. A few hours later he would leave. This happened a lot. I'm sure you can draw the same conclusion from this that we did.

She died friendless and penniless. I hope she finds peace.