A father’s obit about his heroin-addicted daughter who died of an overdose two weeks ago is in sharp contrast to a typical eulogy. Tom Parks penned an honest and thought-provoking post on social media after Molly Parks passed away from a drug overdose. It soon turned into a telling obituary that has gone viral. The grieving New Hampshire dad wants it to serve as a warning to loved ones of those suffering from addiction, according to a People news report.
On April 16, the Parks received the worst news any parents expects to hear during their lifetime: their child died before they did. And depending on the cause of death, the pain can be piercing. This was one of those cases. And as the common practice goes today, the death notice was posted on social media for friends and family members of the deceased.
Molly Parks’ father pens obituary for daughter who died of a overdose http://t.co/wjcWdGxjBN #ZippedNews http://t.co/FSdvXMPxts
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Mr. Parks took to Facebook and shared news of Molly’s untimely death. The father’s informal obit told about how his daughter, 24, was found dead in a restroom where she worked. Apparently, she died after injecting a fatal dose of heroin into her veins.
“I’m not looking for sympathy but I want people to know that our lives are made up of the choices we make and for some death is a matter of choice too. My daughter Molly Parks made many good choices in her too short life and she made some bad choices. She tried to fight addiction in her own way and last night her fight came to an end in a bathroom of a restaurant with a needle of heroin. Her whole family tried to help her win the battle but we couldn’t show her a way that could cure her addiction. We will always love her and miss her. If you have a friend or a relative who is fighting the fight against addiction please do everything you can to be supportive. Maybe for your loved one it’ll help. Sadly for ours it didn’t. I hope my daughter can now find the peace that she looked for here on earth.”
The obit-like post from Molly’s dad gained traction on social media and started a conversation about the effects of narcotics on people who are driven towards bad decisions. Parks and his family reasoned that it was wise to use their daughter’s death from heroin as a launching pad for reaching out to others to promote awareness. The father’s efforts morphed into a full-fledged obituary ahead of her memorial services.
“Molly Alice Parks, age 24, who most currently resided in Manchester, NH, passed away in Manchester on April 16, 2015 as the result of a heroin overdose.”
As expected in the tribute to his daughter, the elder Parks talked about memorable moments in Molly’s life: her “trademark red lipstick” and fondness of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise. But then, the young woman’s father spoke about the factors that led to her early demise. For a time, Parks’ daughter appeared to have recovered from abusing heroin. She was working 55 hours a week and appeared to be doing well. In hindsight, that was only on the outside.
In the end, the tribute to Molly focused on the role others play in the life of a deceased person who struggled with some form of addiction. Parks believes that a strong support system can help a person journey through their addiction and foster life-supporting decisions.
“If you have any loved ones who are fighting addiction, Molly’s family asks that you do everything possible to be supportive, and guide them to rehabilitation before it is too late.
“I see a lot of obituaries from families that are losing twenty-somethings, thirty-somethings and forty-somethings, and they’re all saying they died suddenly,” he told the Post . “But that’s not the truth, and we know that because we just went through it.”
The father’s full obit on his heroin-addicted daughter appears here .
[Photo via Tributes.com ]
