a broken heart...

this is not

the christmas

post i had

 

planned

nor did i expect

my holiday eves

to be filled

with sorrow

followed by

eye opening

 and jaw dropping

statistics

learned from hours of research

this precious baby

girl

the granddaughter

of a woman

i worked with years ago

our sons hanging out

together when we

needed to take them

with us

is celebrating her

first christmas

without her daddy

he died

a few nights ago

just days after

this gorgeous photo

was taken

addiction

it is real

it is frightening

and it is

a very huge problem

in our community

this beautiful blue eyed

princess

is not the only

daughter waking up

fatherless

 this christmas morn

in a very short

amount of time

i've learned of

several

young men

that i have known

good decent families

with one thing

in common

heroin

we need to wake up

reach out

stop being in denial

before it is to late

our prayers

go out to the women

who are now

 alone

as they try to cope

with an empty

bed

a broken heart

and a story

they will one

day have to share

with their

children

to the families

who are heartbroken

have guilt

are asking

 why

they could not do more

how do we help

we must stop

what so many

 police departments are

declaring an

 epidemic

we must

it is killing

too many