A dedication from Timothy's Mom Pam, to most known as "mommabeans"....

Lost my son, Tim Cantrell to methadone overdose...Rest In Peace My Son~12/22/76-7/7/07

I am a middle aged mother of four, a stepmother to four and I have 11 biological grandchildren and five step grandchildren. I have been with my partner for twelve years and in the spring we plan to make it official lol...through thick and thin we have weathered many storms and we are best friends as well as soul mates. We have known one another for 33 yrs and 'back in the day' we dated,parted ways and even though we both married others and both of us ending up divorcing them due to their cocaine addictions, we crossed paths and found that together is where we both should be. Now that I shared that somewhat of a fairy tale type of destiny, what I will share next is not so sweet.

Tragically I lost my youngest son to an "accidental overdose" of methadone and Xanax. The most ironic thing about it all is that through the years, he and I had talked many times about drugs and the dangers of all of them...he first hand witnessed the devastation addiction caused, his father was and still is an active addict and Tim always vowed to NOT be like that, not to let something like drugs overtake his life. My son was what is called a 'binge' addict. He could go for months sober and we would believe he was passed that "phase", then something within him would weaken and he would give in to that other person inside of him. Tim was a very fun person to be around, he possessed a quick witty humor that made him unique in many ways and when he loved, he loved with his entire being. He was a much loved person, even up to his death his closest and best friends were ones he had bonded with in junior high school. And even though his only brother was nearly six yrs older, they were very close friends and fortunately his brother Chris became somewhat of a father figure to him as well as his 'best' buddy most of his life until jobs caused them to part for long periods of time.

The past three to four years there had been deaths from methadone in our family and he had lost friends as well to the drug which prompted my bringing up to him the dangers of just taking a single pill...he would say "Mom, I am not that stupid, I know how deadly it is and death is not on my list of things to do". He struggled with the disease of addiction for a short time in comparison to many others around him. As I write this, a thought replays in my mind--so many people believe addicts are like the poor bag ladies you see struggling to live through the day, or like the man you see on the street who is dirty and un-kept begging for change-- when in reality, the average 'addict' may very well be your next door neighbor or the clerk who bags your groceries. Methadone does not discriminate, there are no boundaries to the lives it swallows up daily, and yes, many die with just a single dose. Please, to all who may read this, go to visit all the victims at HARMD.org, you never know what life may throw at you and there may be something learned from there that may save someone you love...