Beautiful, loving, kind, caring, outgoing
“Heather the Feather” was kind, loving, and outgoing, with a unique smile. She played softball when she was young, was a talented artist and loved everyone. She was also prone to mood swings and severe depression.
Heather had a daughter, Audry, and son, Jesse, who were six and four when their mother died. Now 18, one memory of her mom remains with Audry; going along with her to get coffee every day. Living without her mother is the most difficult part of losing her to substance use. “It’s hard to know what to do when I need motherly advice,” Audry stated.
Heather’s daughter, Audry Quist, provided the information for this narrative.
January 11, 1976-November 24, 2012-Age 36
Portrait Artist: Jeremy Hebbel
Narrative Writer: Barbara Francois
Note: In this exhibition – 28 children lost one or both of their parents to a drug overdose or poisoning. Yet there are few studies on the effects of the loss of parents due to substance use on their children.
A 2024 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Psychiatry, states that the rate of children who experienced this loss more than doubled during the period from 2011 to 2021 from approximately 27 to 63 children per 100,000. They can be left with few memories and because of stigma and shame around the disease of addiction, may experience “Disenfranchised Grief,” a grief insufficiently recognized by society, making it more difficult to find safe outlets to express their feelings or ask questions.
“It is devastating to see that almost half of the people who died of a drug overdose had a child,” said Nora Volkow, M.D. National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA)director. “These findings emphasize the need to better support parents in accessing prevention, treatment and recovery services. In addition, any child who loses a parent to overdose must receive the care and support they need to navigate this painful and traumatic experience.”
