In this episode, Michele Rogers shares with us her journey of losing her son. This was a powerful conversation about what happens next as well as her experience. The biggest take away from this conversation is, this is not a parenting problem.
Here is just a little of Michele's story and what she has to say:
I grew up in Tidewater Virginia and later attended Saint Leo College in Florida. I had two sons, Clayton (1989) and Bradley (1992). When I divorced in 1996 I moved with my young sons to Waynesville, NC. I worked in hospitality and marketing. I met my husband in 1999 and was remarried in 2003. I became a Real Estate Broker in 2005 and worked in sales until buying a Property Management Company in 2010.
My husband and I are both NC Real Estate Brokers and together with our small staff, we manage over 400 long term rental properties for our company Select Homes.
When my oldest son, Clay, was in her very early 20s he had a sinus surgery and was over-prescribed pain pills. He became addicted to the pain pills and entered treatment for the first time in 2012. His pain pill addiction turned into a heroin addiction around 2015. From 2012-2018 Clay cycled in nd out of rehab, being substance free, relapsing and back to rehab. In September of 2018 after being substance free for 11 months, Clay relapsed and last his life to fentanyl.
After losing my son, I knew I wanted to do something to help other family members navigate the lonely journey of having a loved one with SUD and the even lonelier grief journey after losing someone to Substance Passing. I met Lisa Falbo and we learned that we had this in common and together we started the 501(c)3 - The SHARE Project. SHARE stands for Spreading Hope and Awareness and Removing the Epidemic Stigma. We hold events including quarterly workshops to bring awareness and education of the drug epidemic. We sit on several drug awareness and prevention coalitions throughout our county and region. We facilitate two monthly support groups - SMART RECOVERY FAMILY & FRIENDS for those who have loved ones struggling with SUD and GRASP - Grief Recovery After Substance Passing. We host an annual Drug Awareness Walk and Event as well as an annual International Overdose Awareness Event. This past may we had almost 300 people attend out Annual Walk and Awareness Event.
When I'm not working at my property management company or with The SHARE Project, I enjoy traveling with my husband, Rick and spending time with my two grandsons, Elijah (8) and Wyatt (4).
