In early March I heard that two young teens had died of Fentanyl overdoses here in Portland. I was immediately very sad and also angry. But when you think about it, poisoning is really what these two young people experienced, as both teens thought they were taking something far less potent.
The two teens had no idea that Fentanyl was laced in the tablets they swallowed and had they known there is no doubt they would not have taken those deadly tablets.
I saw the articles as they drifted around on social media that day, and saw photos of two lovely young people, a pretty blond girl with pink hair and a handsome young man with wavy dark brown hair and lustrous dark eyes. The image of the boy didn’t ring any bells, even when I saw that his name was Griffin.
I would find out later that the boy was the son of a well-known Portland writer, Kerry Cohen. But I wouldn’t find that out for several weeks.
I was busy with writing, finishing two books and I was distracted. The fact that I rarely watch the news meant I was even more out of the loop than I normally am, otherwise. My husband and I don’t own a Television and get our news online, and through social media sources, so I’m often unaware of current events.
When I initially found out about the two deaths, I was furious though and put several of the links aside, as I was planning on writing something later about the dangers of Fentanyl. I was also going to focus on the mixed messages the recent decriminalization of drugs sends young people here in Portland and how disastrous that change has been, sending young people in Portland the message that perhaps its okay to consume narcotics, since they have been decriminalized.
Then a dear friend messaged me on Facebook and told me the young man who had died was Kerry Cohen’s son, Griffin. The last time I’d seen a photo of this young man he’d been a small child, so when I saw the photo of the teen boy with the beautiful hair and eyes, I didn’t recognize him. After my friend told me, I rushed to Google and found one of the links to the story.
It all clicked and as I began to read, I felt stunned and deeply saddened. I was stunned to learn that his had happened to a Portland writer and author who was well known as a devoted mother, a woman who absolutely adored both her young sons, and did everything for them.
I had previous issues with Cohen due to social media misunderstandings going back several years. Now those issues seem paltry and obscenely shallow. I’m ashamed to say I ever got involved in those petty battles, but I did, as do many people.
Now, as a parent, my heart is very heavy to know that Kerry Cohen and the father of both boys, Michael Hoffman, are dealing with this horrible tragedy and that it will be a struggle that may well last a lifetime. I have lost loved one’s, in my case six loved one’s in the last two years, four of whom were family members, so I can empathize with the pain of losing irreplaceable loved ones.
In my case, as a parent, I have only one child, and she’s 30 now. But as a parent, I can empathize or at least I can try to empathize with this tragedy. There is a GoFundMe Page that a friend of Cohen’s has created. I would ask everyone in the Portland community that can help, to please do that. Please help this mother and father get through this terrible time and please donate what you can to help them in that process.
This kind of irrevocable tragedy is life altering and is the worst loss a person can experience. Please give generously and help Kerry Cohen and the father of Griffin Hoffman, Michael Hoffman, survive this horrible and difficult time.
Please help!
~Theresa Griffin Kennedy
I’m holding an online event September 13th with author Ben Westhoff to educate parents across the country. This go fund me is my f&f way of raising funds for speaker’s fees but I will have an Eventbrite link soon:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/fentanyl-inc-speaker-series?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer
Are you setting up a Charitable Trust to educate children against drugs? What are the parents doing with these funds?