Thank you, A favor in honor of my son, Adam - Cross post - Caution!! Difficult Subject matter

Greetings my OH Family, Thank you so much for all of your support and thoughts and prayers for me and my family during this time; it has meant so much to us (especially me). I wish I had time to respond individually to all of the emails that I've received but I am still finding it very difficult to sit at the computer especially if I am alone and it is already hard enough to write this letter. In honor of my son, Adam, I am asking that you take an uncomfortable step and talk to someone you love TODAY that isn't aware of how dangerous the "Choking Game" is. We talked to our son in depth about sex, drugs, and smoking. We briefly discussed the game after seeing a news program about kids "going too far" but never realized we needed to discuss it again and again and in much more depth. He was only 11 years old and taken from our lives way too early; however, I do not want to let another day go by without letting you know how important it is to talk to your kids, nieces, nephews, neighbor kids, all kids so hopefully one less family will have to go through this horrible experience. The things we "missed" during the estimated two weeks he had been doing this was he was complaining of being lightheaded or blacking out (since he has the same heart condition that I have, we thought he needed more fluids and salt) and he started wearing a hooded sweatshirt all the time (the thick fabric around the neck helps reduce the likelihood of marks that would be easily noticed around one's neck). I am sure a google search would help you find points to bring up when talking to a child, recommendations on how to talk to the child(ren) important in your life, and the warning signs that they might have already tried it. I'm sorry to start your morning off this way but I have put this off way too long. ***psa*** If you believe in organ donation and have not taken the time to sign up to be a donor, please do so. I have found some comfort in knowing we were able to help some other families. (I mean absolutely no offense to anyone whose views differ from mine so please do not take it that way). I am sure I have forgotten something, probably a lot of things but since this is an important post, I will check my email more often so if someone needs information they can email and know that I will get back to them. Have a Blessed day, Amber

Thank you for the information. As a mother of a 14,11, and 9 year old, I must remind myself all the time that the things they are faced with today are radically different that what I faced 20 years ago. You've helped to educate 3 kids this morning, because rest assured, I will be speaking with mine TODAY on this subject. (As well as my beloved nieces and nephews) Gods blessings and strength be with you during this difficult time.

I am speechless. I need to show this to my daughters. I have 3 grandsons. I feel so bad for you. I know what you mean about things have change. We battled with my daughters drug addition for 5 years of hell. She is a new person today. We have been thru the mill trying to safe her life. She is almost 2 years clean today. Still goes to her meetings and is getting ready to graduate manager beauty school and is a new person today. She lost everything I took her kids from her. She got them back. She worked hard to get to wear she is at today. Your son was at the beginning of temptation. Children are vunerable. What your doing is wonderful. You tried and missed something that not to many people know about. Get the word out. God Bless A big hug to you Barb

Dear Amber, My sympathy on your loss. Words cannot describe. May God bless you and comfort you now and always. Sincerely, Linda

You and your family are in my prayers. Thank you for sharing. Know that you are loved and in our hearts. Dianna

Amber, First of all.. my thoughts and prayers are going out to you and your family. I am so sorry the hear about your loss. I have an 11 year old boy who is fearless. I heard about an 8th grader passing away from this game last week. At that time his father and I talked to him about this game. I just pray that we got through to him. He said he never has heard of it. So I hope he is telling us the truth. He is always on the computer playing games or playing video games where I can see him. May God Bless you during this difficult time and comfort you. Love and Hugs Julie

Dear Amber, I am so very sorry to hear of the loss of your son. I know there are no words to help lessen or ease your pain. But do know that there are many who care about you and your family and many prayers will be going up on your behalf. I have some very good books on grief that I would be very happy to mail you for free if you are interested. These are books written by professional grief counselors that we give out to the families we serve here at our funeral home. You may email me your address if you are interested. Most sincerely, Barbara [email protected]

Amber, I just spoke to my son about this. He's 12. He had heard about the game. Thank you for taking the time to tell us about Adam, as I am not sure this would have been something I would have thought to discuss with my son. We live fairly close to each other, if you ever need someone to talk with I'm a good listener. We could meet for lunch. I live and work in Miamitownship so we're pretty close. Hugs to you and your family. Laura

Amber, I am so sorry for your loss, and have been sitting here for 20 mins thinking about what to write. This subject hit close to home because my son and I had a long conversation about it several months ago. I hope and pray that my son was not lying to me just like Julie had said. He knew about it and said it is very widespread at our local middle school. This terrifies me that so many young kids are doing this. I admire your courage in trying to get the word out about this terrible thing that these kids are doing. I hope you know that your post is going to reach out and start a lot of uncomfortable but necessary conversations. I pray that this will help you begin to heal from your tragic loss. In honor of Adam hopefully many lives will be saved... I am sorry if I am not saying the right thing , but words arent coming easy to me about this subject. It just shows even when we think we know what our children are doing and thinking most times we arent even in the ballpark. I had another talk with my son, as I was writing this post and had him read your letter. I want him to know that kids really do die from this practice and to pass the word along. I hope its okay if I share your post with all my friends who have teens in their lives. I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers as you work through this difficult time in your lives. Thank you so much for sharing with us. Loving Hugs Laura in Southeast Ohio

Amber, My deepest condolences to you at what is probably the most difficult and heartbreaking time in your life. I have 4 sons and trust me I am aware of the chances they take in life with their peers. They just think they are invincible. This is a tragedy that should be shared with others, because maybe just maybe it could save a childs life. You have an enormous amount of courage to write about this. Education is knowledge and knowledge is power. I will pray for you and your family. We recently lost a 25 year old friend to suicide, a friend of my sons for over 13 years. A young man that was like a son to me. We don't understand what goes through their minds, and why they do the things they do. As we look back now, we did see his death coming. But know there is nothing you could have done to prevent it, just as we were unable to stop our friend from his demise. Children will take risks and all we can do as parents is hold our breath, and pray they survive this complicated world. God Bless you, and thank you for the information you shared. I know it will help someone. Barb S.