Melissa and I were very close. Her mother died when she was only 10 years old. Melissa's mother died from the same thing that killed Melissa, addiction.

Melissa's death has been very painful for me and her family. On the upside, I am a recovering addict with 20 months clean after 39 years of addiction. I was 8 months clean when Melissa died. All Melissa ever wanted me to do was get off drugs. I did so before her death. The only thing I can do now is stay clean.

I hope this story will help someone out. I hope this will help prevent someone from going through the pain of addiction.

I lost everything to addiction. I lost my wife, my kid, my life. What may look like fun, might be fun for a while. But, in the end it is living death.