Intelligent, funny, charming, charismatic, loved his family
Andy was personable, funny and kind, with a charismatic smile that got everyone’s attention. He was very family oriented and loved getting together with his extended family at Christmas, often having conversations with cousins and elders in the group. He was loyal, and a “vault” when it came to keeping secrets that people shared with him.
Andy loved music and was a good free style rapper; give him a topic and he could immediately create a rap on it. He liked to draw and was passionate about writing song lyrics; notebooks of lyrics were found among his possessions. He loved his parents and sisters and wrote letters to his mom and dad telling them they were good parents and he loved and respected them. He wrote similar letters to his sisters and relatives, “We all have a little piece of him,” his mom said.
Andy was thrilled when his daughter Skye was born; he loved her with all his heart. Her personality is much like her fathers; outgoing, funny and high-energy. In the short four weeks that he had with her, he was very loving and attentive. He was looking forward to continuing his relationship with Skye’s mother, Alyssa, and raising Skye with his nieces, who still call him Uncle Andy. “I miss seeing him with Skye,” his mother said, ‘it warmed my heart.’ Alyssa makes sure that Skye spends significant time with Andy’s family and has planted a tree in his memory. She goes there often with Skye to share memories with her about her dad. On Christmas Day, the family hangs ornaments in his honor.
Andy was a great help to other people struggling with substance use disorder. At Andy’s memorial service, a young man handed his own coveted sober coins to Andy’s mom. She said, “It meant the world to me, I am so proud of how Andy positively affected his life, and the life of others. There were many stories of his reaching out.”
Andy’s mom said that Andy’s addiction and death were so big “that everything else is minor now.” ‘If I can’t control something, I no longer worry about it.’ His mom often dreams about him, waking up feeling his hugs or the warmth of his hand as he tousled her hair. “We all did the best we could,” his mom said. ‘Andy struggled every day; living with addiction is a hard life.’
Andrew’s mother, Renay Muehlheim, provided the information for this narrative.
March 23, 1988-March 11, 2016
Age 27-Lived with addiction 9 years
