Very loving, funny, creative, heartbreaking
“My son was a loving, caring person with the biggest heart,” said Mitchell’s mom, Sandra. He always had a joke ready and loved to laugh. In pictures, he was the one to throw out a peace sign gesture, wave, or hold something random up to the camera to make people smile. “There was something magical about him,” his mother said.
Mitchell played the trombone and the electric guitar and wrote several songs. He played in the high school band and later in a band that played in various venues. He was an accomplished graphic artist; according to his supervisor at work, one of the best he ever worked with. “There was nothing bad about him, everyone went above and beyond to help him because he was so loveable and wonderful,” Sandra stated. One such person was Mitchell’s best friend Chris, who always stayed in his life.
Mitchell was addicted to alcohol and later started using drugs. His mom said, “he didn’t live a conventional life, unfortunately, addiction WAS his life.” Even though he was deep into active addiction, there were many stories shared by others about how he gave them money, even when he had little of his own. When he was homeless, he would gather food and cook it over a fire for everyone who needed it and collect clothing, and share. His Uncle Mike and mother delivered boxes of food and clothing for him, and she periodically paid for hotel rooms.
Mitchell had four children who he “loved to the moon and back,” Violet, 8, Benjamin, 6, Caiden 5, and Annalise, 3. He was also close to his nephew, Trevis. Mitchell’s wife, Brianna, mother of two of his children, loved him and never gave up on him, though they couldn’t live together. He felt badly that he couldn’t beat his addiction and be more active in his kids’ lives. He often said he didn’t want to live his life that way. It was like a “monster inside of him,” he said. Mitchell wanted stability, to get back to graphic designing, and to have more involvement with his children.
His mother misses his infectious smile, his humor, their daily phone calls, and his loving heart. She said, “Some days I don’t want to be here without my son, other times I feel numb.” She finds solace in attending support groups and involvement in overdose awareness activities. ‘Mitchell didn’t want to be the way he was. He had plans for when he was sober; he wanted to work at a treatment facility and help others with the same issues.’
Mitchell’s mother, Sandra Spease, provided the information for this narrative
December 17, 1988- December 28, 2020
Age 32-Lived with the disease of addiction 14 years
