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Thread: Announcement

  1. #1
    Super, Duper Moderator Youk Of The Nation's Avatar
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    Announcement

    Some of you may have noticed I haven't been posting for almost two weeks.

    My brother died last Friday. Naturally I have been spending most of the time with my family and I expect that to continue for a couple more weeks at the very least. We are currently staying at my parent's summer camper which we can stay at until the end of the season when the campground closes, in mid-October. After that I'm not sure what our plans are, because neither my mother nor myself want to return to our house.

    Normally I would not share details but I think it is important. My little brother died from a drug overdose at the age of 27. He has struggled with and suffered from an addiction to heroin for several years now. Earlier this year he spent 40 days in jail and 30 days in rehab, after which he immediately resumed using. My mother sent him to live with my aunt, a recovering addict and recovering alcoholic, in rural Michigan for almost five weeks, hoping it would help. He came back from the trip for a court date, having spent five weeks clean, and seemed eager to return to Michigan as soon as possible. The day after his court date and two days after he had returned from Michigan, he died. I was in the next room, sleeping, and when I woke up I thought he was sleeping as well. I sat outside with the dogs for almost an hour, when my mother came home from work she discovered he was dead.

    There are a lot of people responsible for my brother's death. He himself holds a great deal of responsibility, but so too do the pharmaceutical corporations and "medical professionals" who set the opioid crisis in motion in the 90's by deliberately understating the addictiveness and the dangers of opiates. So too does whatever dealer sold my brother far more heroin than was necessary or "safe" for someone who had not used in over a month. So too do I for not doing more to help my little brother.

    The reason I am sharing all of this is to remind you all that millions of people are going through what I am going through at this moment. Mourning brothers, sisters, parents, children, and you might know some of them. It's easy to dismiss all drug users as useless lowlifes, but most of them are not. Most of them are people who started out being prescribed medications in hospitals to manage pain and then became addicted because that is what happens with opiates. They turn to heroin when the doctors turn the supply of pills off. Other people use because they don't understand the danger and they are too uneducated to realize that heroin is not the same thing as pot, that it's not something you can do "occasionally". Some people just make a poor decision because they suffer from mental illness, or depression. None of these people deserve what happens to them. No one deserves to die like my brother did because they made a poor decision with no intent to hurt someone else. My brother was not a scumbag, he was sick.

    I'm not asking for anyone to start picketing Purdue Pharmaceuticals or write their congressman, I am simply asking you to remember what I am telling you the next time you listen to someone you know, or even yourself, talking about how drug users should be sterilized or killed or locked up by the millions because they ruin our society. Spending millions of dollars imprisoning nonviolent drug offenders instead of spending that money on treating them for a medical or mental illness harms our society far, far more.

    Just remember my brother, whom I loved so much, was an amazing, intelligent, wonderful kid who could have been so much more if even a little bit of the system was better at helping people like him instead of punishing them.




    Now that that has been said, I also want to let everyone know that I will likely be on only sporadically until mid-October because the campground wifi is not that great. If you have any issues that need to be addressed regarding administrative actions (in other words, stuff JB44 cannot take care of), please E-Mail me at paulmedinger@gmail.com, because I may not see a PM for several days or weeks. Anything else, please direct your inquiries to JB, who will be taking the bulk of the moderating duties for a few weeks. Thank you.
    Quote Originally Posted by YANKEESRULE View Post
    Yea got hand it to the Sox, they just could not go queitly into the night. Well, they are just post-poning the inevitable.
    - From the 2004 ALCS Game 4 Gamethread. A reminder that no game is over until the final out is recorded, and things will always get better. Misspellings unchanged as a reminder that Yankees fans are just terrible.

  2. #2
    Deity moonslav59's Avatar
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    My heart felt condolences go out to you and your family. I'm so sorry to hear of this tragedy.


  3. #3
    Deity Bellhorn04's Avatar
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    My deepest condolences for your loss, YOTN, and my wishes for you and your family going forward from this.

  4. #4
    Deity Slasher9's Avatar
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    Youk. I am so very sorry for your loss.
    sharing this story cannot have been easy but i do hope that typing this out and sharing it with the community has in some small way helped in your grieving process. I will keep your brother and your family in my thoughts.
    other names i have posted under: none

  5. #5
    TalkSox Ascended Master mvp 78's Avatar
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    I'm so sorry for you Youk. My heart goes out to you and your family.
    Quote Originally Posted by moonslav59 View Post
    ( I won't say the "C word.")

  6. #6
    El mar no cesa iortiz's Avatar
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    You need courage and braveness to share this Youk. I appreciate and respect that.

    I wish you and your family the best moving forward, and don't worry about the board, your family is first. Take all the time you need. Regards!
    Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz & Boston Red Sox

    Quote Originally Posted by a700hitter View Post
    In the words of Don Corleone when he slaps a crying Johnny Fontaine: "Act like a man!" No, offense ladies.

  7. #7
    Resident Old Fart Spudboy's Avatar
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    Fuck fuck fuck.

    My heart is with you Youk.
    "Hating the Yankees like it's a religion since 94'" RIP Mike.


    "It's also a simple and indisputable fact that WAR isn't the be-all end-all in valuations, especially in real life. Wanna know why? Because an ace in run-prevention for 120 innings means more often than not, a sub-standard pitcher covering for the rest of the IP that pitcher fails to provide. You can't see value in a vacuum when a player does not provide full-time production."

  8. #8
    Deity Kimmi's Avatar
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    My heartfelt condolences to you and your family Youk.

    Thank you for taking the time to remind us that people who suffer from addiction are not bad or useless people.

    Best wishes and warmest thoughts to you.

  9. #9
    Leyenda Thunder's Avatar
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    Thanks for sharing that with us. We're here for you when you get back. Deepest condolences.
    Quote Originally Posted by mvp 78 View Post
    I can't disagree with you

  10. #10
    Super Moderator Jasonbay44's Avatar
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    My deepest condolences YOTN, I can't even imagine how hard it must've been to post something like this. I doubt there is anything we can do to help with what you are going through, but if there is anything we can do to help, please don't hesitate to ask.

  11. #11
    King of TalkSox a700hitter's Avatar
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    My heartfelt condolences to you and your family. This opioid problem is very widespread. This has not been the only tragic story that I have heard from friends and neighbors involving opioids in the last couple of years, and they are all so unbearably sad.
    The King of TalkSox has Spoken.

    Quote Originally Posted by a700hitter View Post
    Chaim, you are in the big leagues now. Drawing 10,000 fans a game is not going to cut it, and people don’t buy tickets to Fenway to talk about the Farm

    Quote Originally Posted by notin View Post
    "Relief pitchers are a crapshoot." No, the truth is "Crapshoot pitchers are relievers."

  12. #12
    My condolences Youk. It is an all too frequent reality for many families. Grieve as long as you must. Once you've gotten back from the campground, I will shed some light on why this crisis is so widespread. Shocking, unfortunately, and deadly all too consistently. Godspeed
    Hal sucks

  13. #13
    Super, Duper Moderator Youk Of The Nation's Avatar
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    I'm sitting in a Denny's right now using my phone as a wi-fi hub, just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your thoughts.
    Quote Originally Posted by YANKEESRULE View Post
    Yea got hand it to the Sox, they just could not go queitly into the night. Well, they are just post-poning the inevitable.
    - From the 2004 ALCS Game 4 Gamethread. A reminder that no game is over until the final out is recorded, and things will always get better. Misspellings unchanged as a reminder that Yankees fans are just terrible.

  14. #14
    Deity
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    Quote Originally Posted by Youk Of The Nation View Post
    I'm sitting in a Denny's right now using my phone as a wi-fi hub, just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your thoughts.
    My condolences and thank you for sharing.

  15. #15
    All-Star
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    Youk,

    I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. Thank you for sharing your brother's story with us -- that must have been incredibly difficult, but I hope it helps you find some bit of peace in some way. I wish you and your family all the best and will be keeping you in my thoughts.

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