Jessie Monreal writes a raw letter to children of addiction about confused grief after losing a parent to substance use and suicide. With honesty and compassion, she names anger, love, relief, guilt, forgiveness, and the possibility of breaking cycles.

Sandy Rivers opens July's Author of the Month with a family story about grandparents forced to protect children during a daughter's opioid use disorder. The piece explores love, safety, court, peer support, and the hidden burden families carry alone.

Damon R. Postle, Ph.D., writes with brutal honesty about surviving the suicide death of his brother Matt, the last words between them, missed goodbyes, hospitalization, stroke, and the unbearable silence left when a musician is gone. A raw grief essay about guilt, trauma, love, and staying alive.