Saturday October 7th Somerville Overcoming Addiction celebrated the loss of loved ones due to Overdose deaths and suicide with a vigil our 4th … A special thanks to Tom Ross for volunteering for the 4 years straight .. such an honor having you present  dressed in full uniform to  ring the bell after each loved ones name was read 269 to be exact.  Family and Loved ones sat with lite candles waiting for the name of their special someone’s name to be read . A video of pictures and names played continuously while we waited for that special moment to happen   Many other first responders from the police and fire department were present as well.  Also a very special thank you to Ronnie Neff for coming every year and playing the bagpipes to start the event as well as the conclusion with moving songs such as ,”Amazing Grace” and “I’m Coming Home”, this adds so much to a moving event … Tables of support were setup and we had representatives from , MOAR, MOA, The Samaritans, Learn to Cope, Cambridge Needle Exchange , The Addicts Mom . Special speakers for the event Debbie Pace Deagle ,  who grew up in Somerville and lost her only Child Steven as well as Jean Marie McCauley a Mom that’s in recovery who also  lost 3 sons in a 4 year Span to addiction.  Both shared their stories of shattered dreams and their contributions to our efforts of addiction awareness  and changing policies . we all agree that in order to somehow rid our nation of addiction we need to call our politicians in every level of government from local government to the Whitehouse , flood them with calls  we need them to recognize the need for action  this epidemic is now considered a pandemic situation .  Thank you to all that helped to making this event a success,  the many readers of names , the DPW and the alderman for permitting the event to happen . Judi, Pat and Erin Walker for all the preparation before hand . Nancy , Jane and Melissa for helping direct our guests to seating and etc.  Always remember we all MATTER and MATTERED …Its OK to talk about addiction 80% of this wonderful country is affected  … Talk about it , remove STIGMA , addiction is a disease not a choice , no one wanted to grow up and be an addict especially my son Franke ,a motorcycle accident at 21led to his addiction for 10 years, he suffered with his own stigma about addiction and using . He didn’t need STIGMA from others on top of his own that  burdened  him daily, he died alone and cried a few days before his death about not wanting to die … Reach out and help someone be compassionate give them HOPE and SUPPORT .. RECOVERY is POSSIBLE … let’s work as a TEAM for SUCCESS . SOMERVILLE our children need to be more educated about DRUGS and NOW before its to late..  No one wanted or wants  to bury one of or more of their children or loved ones , death is forever !!!