Remembering loved ones lost to drugs

Friends, family of overdose victims share the hurt during vigil

COEUR d'ALENE — Slowly, the stories emerged in the darkness Wednesday night at Independence Point. One woman talked of visiting a loved one, dying of a drug overdose, in the hospital. "The machine kept beeping," she said. She hoped he might come back. "He never did," she said. Another spoke of Uncle Luke, who also died of drugs. "We didn't even know he had a substance abuse problem," she said. One man said he lives with "what ifs" every day, playing back the overdose death of a loved one five years ago. "Something has got to give," he said. About 25 people came out for a candlelight vigil hosted by the Panhandle Health District and the Kootenai Recovery Community Center in remembrance of those lost to drug overdose. The vigil was held on International Overdose Awareness Day. There were 353 bags with battery-powered tea lights lined up on the steps of Independence Point, next to the dark waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Each stood for an Idahoan who died of a drug overdose last year.