Lucia Droby 

“My son Jon spent his childhood summers in Waldoboro: driving tractors, clamming, and lobstering. In his early 30s, he decided to move to Alaska and work on a boat, fishing for salmon. He loved the work, things were good, and then they fell apart.”

So recounts Wiscasset’s Lucia Droby, recalling a nightmare all too familiar to too many families. 

“His texts were awful, telling us he was homeless and without food and if we didn’t send him money, his death would be on us. We bailed him out of jail a couple of times, and sometimes didn’t. We didn’t know how to help him.”

Jon was baffled by the path his life had taken, writing to his mother from a jail cell in Alaska: “Never in my life did I expect to be a heroin addict... If you ask me where things might have started to go wrong it’s crazy because honestly I have no idea…  One day things were really good and the next day my life was ruined.”

Incarceration forced Jon to sit still with himself long enough to realize he needed to commit to recovery. That decision combined with hard work and whatever intangibles allowed him to succeed where others do not (substance use disorder affects no two people the same way) made all the difference. After eight years in Alaska, he returned home.

“During the time Jon was lost in Alaska,” says Lucia, “my friend’s daughter died of an overdose. I believe it could have gone either way for us. I am ever so grateful that my son returned, continues his recovery work, and that we can be with each other. That he is alive.”

Chelsea Taylor

Chelsea Taylor always felt protective of her brother Alex, who died of an overdose on Aug. 11, 2020, at the age of 19. 

12 years older than Alex, she is a vocal proponent of awareness and compassion for those affected by substance use, refusing to allow her brother’s cause of death to define him. “I want people to know Alex was passionate about art: Music, painting, photography. He has inspired me. Those are really big pieces of him that are important to us.”

Alex’s mother Deb Taylor concurs. “He walked through the world as an artist. He was so kind-hearted, and sensitive.”

Alex is part of a generation hit hard by the opioid epidemic, including in Deb and Chelsea’s hometown of Wiscasset: pain on top of pain yields more pain.

“You don’t have to look very deeply to see the suffering,” observes Deb, a former high school principal in Wiscasset. “Every year there are funerals. Our young people are hurting and dying.” 

As of this summer, Chelsea is a new mother. Free of shame, she is determined to continue her advocacy and uphold her brother’s memory: “I want my son to know who he is.”

Officer Jonathan Barnes

In recent years, attitudes toward illegal substance users have experienced a shift: What once had been viewed almost exclusively as a criminal justice issue is increasingly understood as a health concern. Jonathan Barnes, school resource officer in Wiscasset, knows firsthand the shortcomings of an approach to addiction overly reliant on incarceration alone.

“I began my work with addiction many years ago when I worked in a correctional facility. We were the first facility in Maine to start an intensive in-house substance abuse treatment program. It made a big difference.”

Every day on his job, Jonathan confronts the impact of the opioid epidemic in his own community.

“I have worked in Wiscasset for five years and have seen the devastating effects addiction has had. I’ve responded to several overdoses, some of which were fatal. Over the last year I have seen children lose parents and loved ones to addiction. I see the loss in their eyes every day at school.” 

He knows more help and support is needed, and is doing what he can to be part of the solution.

Editor’s note: Barnes shared with Wiscasset Newspaper the following additional passage from his statement for the 716 Candles project:

“Personally, I can speak to the affects substance abuse has on a family. I lost my sister, her husband and their unborn child on Christmas Eve 2008 to a drunk driver. This left me not only wanting to protect our roads from these dangers but to help those struggling with addiction as well.”

The following schedule for the Wiscasset event comes from 716candlesproject.wordpress.com:

At Wiscasset Art Walk from 5 to 8 p.m.: Displays of art by and about people affected by substance use, including selections from “Lights of Lincoln County,” a photo exhibition by Charles Richards; “Threshold Guardian,” a mural-sized drawing by artist Christine Burr Correa; a four-panel mural story facilitated by Maggie Morgan by and about people in recovery and their journeys; and more; art-making activities, including paper cranes with Social Presencing practitioners Annie Blair and Carol Zahner, and “Show of Hands,” centered on creating plaster casts of hands to reflect care for those affected by substances, presented by Merrymeeting Adult Education’s Maggie Morgan; Narcan training and resource tables with information from community organizations and programs including Healthy Lincoln County, New Hope Midcoast, and more; those affected by substance use and loss, and those working to make things better, present at tables to engage audiences and share their stories and knowledge; and music of all kinds, including hand-made percussion instruments for visitors to play, blues on the sidewalk, and harp and classical guitar in the galleries.

Parade of Candles, from 7:10 to 8:30 p.m.; This event is for all those affected by substance use and loss, and their allies.

Those wishing to take part in this communal expression of love and hope are to begin assembling at 7:10 p.m. at the Railroad Avenue, Wiscasset parking lot at the end of Railroad Avenue. The procession begins at 7:30 p.m., winding down Railroad Avenue and up Main Street, led in song and guitar by Gianni Barbera and by artist Mat O’Donnell, holding aloft his painting of hands holding a flame, a symbol of hope. 

The procession arrives at 7:45 p.m. to the Sunken Garden, adorned with 716 paper bag luminaries and purple flags in honor of those who died of overdose in Maine in 2022. During the next 30 minutes, participants are invited to share reflections on the moment and meaning of the occasion.

https://716candlesproject.wordpress.com/wiscasset-art-walk-parade-of-candles/