https://www.facebook.com/morgan.e.augustine

https://patch.com/connecticut/weston...ustine-dead-28

REDDING, CT ? Morgan Augustine, 28, was a third-generation yacht club member in Redding, sang in her church's choir, and was active in its youth group. She studied ballet, and her talent for ceramic art had won her a scholarship.

On July 31, she died in her sleep of a drug overdose.

So... what happened?

Diane Augustine, Morgan's mom, spoke with Patch, and began her daughter's story at the start of what would be an 18-month divorce process. Morgan was not yet 12-years-old, when she began getting counseling for anxiety and depression. The counselors? and she visited a few ? could never agree about the root of her mental illness.

"I had doctors tell me, 'oh, it could be hormonal.' 'Oh, It could be rite of passage. 'Oh, it could be situational to your divorce.' 'Oh, it could nothing, she'll grow out of it!'" Augustine said

Ultimately, her daughter was admitted to two institutions ("amazingly cost-prohibitive"), and introduced to a medical group that "treated the symptoms, and not the problems." Her daughter stayed on with that group, Augustine said, because they prescribed the most drugs.

"She was vivacious and loved by all, but she self-medicated her problems, with both prescription drugs, and with drugs and alcohol," Augustine said.

The mother emerged from her daughter's early teen years with a dim view of many of the counselors and therapists who treated Morgan. "When children at 12 and 14 start to drink, Augustine says, therapists are "looking at the drinking" and not the child's psychological problems.

It was difficult to shield Morgan from drugs and alcohol through her high school years, according to her mother, who says she was fighting against an entrenched culture.

"It's hard having a child with special needs and problems in Fairfield County, because everyone in Fairfield County has a perfect child," she said, with a weary sardonicism. Underage drinking is rampant, she says, and worse, it is sanctioned by many parents who not only allow it but actually oversee it in their homes.

Gina Pin, Region 9 assistant superintendent, shares that concern.

"Our community has had some real tragedies with parties that are going on, not in our parking lots, but in people's homes, and they have resulted in horrific car accidents," Pin said.

Diane considered sending Morgan to a private school but was told by many people that "all you end up doing is paying more money, and getting better drugs."

Pin says awareness of teen addiction, and the school district's preparedness and willingness to tackle it has improved markedly in the decade since Morgan graduated from Joel Barlow High School in Redding. She touts the work of the Easton Redding Community Care Coalition, a group of local professionals in mental health, school administration, law enforcement and clergy in reducing substance abuse and risky behaviors by focusing on prevention and education.

"One of the things that we're seeing, and research is telling us, and unfortunately Morgan is exemplifying, is that while we can keep an eye on students while they're here, the population that's at greatest risk statistically are students that are 18 to 26-27," Pin said.

When Morgan came of age, she left her mom's home and moved in with her father, a tugboat captain, who Augustine says was very often away.

"I had no control of her," Augustine said. "I don't think there is anything more I could have done for her in her early teens."

The mother stayed in contact with her daughter through the years that followed. High points, such as the trip they shared to London, Paris and Scotland for Morgan's 21st birthday, could never quite out-shine the lows, which included a near-death car crash and incarceration.

Through it all, Diane says that her daughter never fully let her know what was befalling her. "Would it have made a difference? Nobody knows!" she said. "It was not one thing that went wrong. It was everything that went wrong."

But everything got a little better when Morgan met Erich Sommerer. Augustine says they just partied together in the beginning, but that all changed with the birth of their child, Courtney Lillian Sommerer, 18 months ago. Morgan, Erich and Courtney moved in with Erich's parents, but her daughter remained "unstable," Augustine said. A court issued an Order of Protection that forbade Morgan from seeing her daughter unsupervised.

Augustine, who grew up in Oregon, moved back there three years ago. She says she was making plans with Morgan, who had no fixed address, for her to move to the Northwest, and also enter a private hospital, very shortly before her daughter's death.

Morgan Augustine died in her sleep on July 31, days after being released from the psychiatric ward at Danbury Hospital. The release came "too soon," according to her mother, who says that following her multiple hospitalizations, Morgan became well-versed on exactly what to say to get out.

The arc of her daughter's life was a difficult tale for Diane Augustine to tell, at a difficult time. It was one she told courageously in the hope she might spare someone else from ever telling one of their own.

"I just want to help another mother or father or brother or sister not to go through this pain," Augustine said. "It's not her story. It's many people's story."

A Celebration of Life for Morgan Augustine will be held 2 p.m., Saturday, August 10 at First Church of Christ, 25 Cross Highway (Redding Center) in Redding. A reception will follow in the church reception hall. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that a donation be made for Morgan's daughter Courtney. Donations can be sent to Christopher P. Norris, Esq., 65 Main St., Danbury CT 06810. "Morgan Augustine" must be included in the memo line.