Happy, loyal, kind, precious, loved to laugh
People who loved Calin described him as a loving son, brother, and uncle. He was best friends with his sister, was extremely loyal, kind, and often went out of his way to help others. He had a gift for making people laugh and his smile would brighten any room. Calin loved music, soccer, swimming, wake boarding, and was a great cook. At one point, he wanted to go to culinary school to be a chef.
Calin always had a job, mostly working as a server in various restaurants. When his mother came to visit him at work, his manager would stop at her table and tell her how much they loved him and what a great employee he was.
After watching his one-year-old niece in the summer of 2019, Calin was certain that he wanted to get better. It was the catalyst for him to take initiative to seek rehab on his own for the first time. He spent his 30th birthday sober and the family was excited for his future. He wanted to become an EMT, and in time, counsel people with substance use disorders. Unfortunately, he passed away one month before starting school.
Calin’s mother, Kelly, has fond memories of family vacations and attending Calin’s soccer games where she would run up and down the field with him in case he needed his asthma medication. “His personality was contagious, you just wanted to be near him,” his mother said. She misses his face, his laugh, (which gratefully she has on tape) and the way he called her Kel-Kel when he was joking with her.
Kelly says that one of the most difficult things about losing a loved one to substance use disorder is the stigma; “people automatically think “loser.” Calin was definitely not a loser; he had a full time job, a place to live, and family who loved him. “Substance use disorder is a disease and my son passed away due to an accidental overdose.” Kelly says: “my heart has a huge hole, I still can’t believe he is gone.”
Calin’s mother, Kelly Sender, provided the information for this narrative.
September 20, 1989-January 17, 2020
Age 30 – Lived with addiction 12 years
