A Year On

A Few Reflections On My Brother’s Heroin Overdose

I rarely write about my personal life. I’m actually a pretty private person outside of my professional life.

But I sat down to write this piece a week ago after versions of it have mulled in my mind over the last year. The thoughts are not fully developed and I expect they’ll take many years to do so. I have a belief that writing for real audiences helps, though.

A year ago today my younger brother died of a heroin overdose.

He was 20.

He was found on the floor of my mom’s guest bathroom and declared dead when he arrived at Ohio Valley Hospital outside of Pittsburgh. There’s still a hole in the door he hit when he collapsed in the bathroom.

I was in Mountain View at the time and received an unanticipated phone call from a family member. This immediately sent my mind rushing before I even answered the phone. The last time I received a rush of unanticipated phone calls from family was September 11, 2016 when he first overdosed while attending the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In that case, he was found by a roommate and flown to Pittsburgh, put on…