The inspiration for The Beading Hearts all began with my son’s creations of beaded hanging decorations.
After struggling for 10 years with mental wellness and then addiction, my
son Adam lost his battle in November 2015 while in a drug rehab.
When Adam was a child, he was always reminding us to LOOK UP.
There was so much we would miss if we didn’t look up.
As a teenager, Adam reminded us to LOOK UP at the stars,
planets, galaxies and beyond.
As a young adult, Adam felt that if we LOOKED UP, there was
something more than we could see … that we were all part of something bigger
than ourselves.
And as an adult, Adam reminded us to LOOK UP even when we
were feeling down.
Adam would string together lettered and color beads to create an
inspirational message. He made one for his grandmother with the word “smile”
and another for his father that read “family and tradition”. For me, his
mother, he chose “radiant light”.
In the throes of grief after the drug-related overdose deaths of our
children, a group of us would meet. We talked about our children, our feelings related
to their deaths and made strings of beads to hang from a car’s rearview mirror,
a keychain or anywhere they were easily visible. We gave the beads
to others who were suffering from the death of their loved one because of
substance use. We found that talking and beading were broken-heart
therapy. Others heard about us and The Beading Hearts Overdose Loss
Support Group was formed.
Our group has grown to such an extent that we now perform outreach by
visiting jails and sober homes. We want to make a difference by offering hope
and encouragement to those with a history of substance use.
We hold fund-raising events throughout the year. We attend local street
fairs and other events to sell our beaded items and raise awareness of
addiction and the unique challenges of overdose grief. Money from the
sales enables us to subsidize our activities that help people affected by
addiction and their families.
Our aim is to heal broken hearts, one bead at a time.