133 - MEMORIAL MONDAY - JESSIE -

More than 100 episodes ago, for episode 18, my mother Norma, and I unbeknownst to us started what was to be the signature weekly feature of the Ashes to Awesome Podcast. She had written a post on Facebook in honor of my cousin, her niece who had been taken from us by fentanyl overdose during a relapse, after 11 months of hard work in recovery. The post went viral.

She had written it in a way that highlighted who Jessie was, and it really drove home the point that she was so much more than a statistic or how she passed. She loved and was loved.

Back then every episode was spaghetti being thrown at the wall to see what worked and what didn’t. I thought that I would read the post, but it turns out I couldn’t get through even the first couple sentences without completely breaking down. Losing Jessie hit our family very hard. Being unable to do read it myself, I asked my mom if she could, and she agreed, it happened to be a Monday. Keeping in mind at this point I Knew almost nothing about podcasting, and even less about including somebody else on the show. We recorded it via phone and the sound quality highlighted my lack of experience.

These days I am a little better at my job with close to 100k downloads and 133 episodes under my belt, so I thought I would remaster Mom’s submission and format the episode the way Memorial Mondays have evolved into now. It is still far from perfect, but it’s better, and it kicked off a campaign that I am very proud of.

Now very week starts with a Memorial Monday, and as we celebrate the person who passed, we are reminded of the realities of today, where fentanyl poisoning has made recreational drug use akin to gambling with your life, and how what used to be a really hard way to live; addiction, is now all too often a literal death sentence.

The intent is not bringing sadness to your day, but to get the attention of the masses, to let the people know who haven’t been affected by addiction, that the people dying are not junkies, they are sons, sisters, cousins, mothers, brothers, daughters, fathers, and friends who again, love and are loved. We believe firmly here at Ashes to Awesome that this is how we can effect real change in policies at all levels of government.

The format is different on a Monday than other days of the week, as it has been my intention from the second Memorial Monday on, that once the submission starts, that is all you hear until the end when the song picked by the loved one finishes the episode.
Mom’s contributions to the show didn’t stop there, as it is her that is directly responsible for daily gratitude’s, and the powerful “you are loved” monologue at the end of every single episode.
Please share these episodes with the very people you think aren’t interested. If we can get them interested, we are doing our job.

Thank you,
Chuck LaFlange

Chuck LaFlange has a new podcast. The episodes are only 5 mins long, and a kind way to start your day. - Morning Cup of Kindness

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