My Son’s Death Will Not Be In Vain
By Ren Whaley
Alright friends. Here it is. After we turned off the life support system for Lorenzo and he passed away, I vowed first to him, my family that was there with me and myself that I would NOT let his death be in vain. I left that place in a daze and a fog and ‘existed’ for the next several months. I remembered what I had promised but I had no clue to what I could or should do.
He passed in March and around July I started feeling a stirring inside of me to move on. Most of you know I had a dream job, a nice pension building and tons of friends in Florida where I was living and had raised my kids. The feeling just kept getting bigger and bigger and finally in October I decided I was going to move back to my home state of Delaware.
I shocked all my friends and coworkers down there. I didn’t have any idea what I was going to do here, no job lined up, nothing. I think most people thought I had lost my mind and quite frankly I did after losing my son but even more so then what I had. I had no savings at all. I had spent every dime I had on rehabs, medications and the like to get my son drug free.
In September I began selling and giving away nearly everything I owned. I came to Delaware with my clothes and a few keepsakes and of course all of Lorenzo’s things. When I arrived here I started applying for jobs and one of those places was for a company called Hudson Health.
The position was for a driver to transport patients from their facility here to other ones in Baltimore and Wilmington. I never heard anything from them and ended up taking a offer at the place that I am currently working. So, a few weeks ago Hudson Health called me and asked if I was still interested in the driver position that I had applied for and I told them sure. Always keep your options open, right?
I set up a interview. I really had no idea what the place was and couldn’t remember anything about them so I looked them up online and lo and behold it’s a drug and alcohol rehab facility!
I went in for the interview and they seemed to be impressed with me and before I left there they had gone from offering me a 20 to 30 part time position of the driver job to a full time 40 hr plus behavior health technician job! I did a follow up interview with the HR lady and today I went in and met with the head of the place and they gave me the job.
Now let me add this also. Yesterday at my other job I began wondering if maybe being surrounded by drug and alcohol dependant people would upset me after what I had gone through with Lorenzo (and a word of warning from my good friend Aline Lomastro). After my interview today I was in the lobby at their water cooler and a new patient came in behind me to get a drink.
I immediately could see the wear and tear on her face that I was familiar with. She introduced herself and I did and offered my hand. Her hand was rougher then any man’s hand I have ever shaken and she just started telling me that although she was just into her first days of treatment she was going to do this and succeed. I guess she thought I already worked there.
We walked outside and the peace of God just fell on me as we stood their and talked for a few minutes. Normally I’m a crier and I get very emotional talking about what took my son’s life but not this time. The Lord let me know I was doing the right thing. So here I am in my journey that started when I lost my dear son. I have a passion for people and if I can be a help to others through my story and testimony then I have found my calling.
Most of you know I like to write and I am currently working on a book with my sister that will tell my Lorenzo’s and some other friend’s stories. It will be a book that I hope will be a help to others that have experienced this devastating grief and to let them know they aren’t alone.
I want it to also be a source of hope and inspiration to others that are dealing with the DISEASE of addiction and to let them know that they have nothing to be ashamed of and there is hope as long as they are still breathing. Where this all will lead I have no idea but it falls right in line with why I left everything behind to do something, I just didn’t know what yet. I’m excited to see what the future has for me. Thanks for reading.
❤️
