Sometimes someone tells you a story about your person that you’ve never heard before. It could be a story from an old friend, something that happened at work or something they did years ago that you had no idea about. Maybe it’s nothing big at all, but you find yourself hanging on every detail because it’s a part of their life you’re hearing for the first time. After someone dies, there is a finality to so many things. We know there won’t be new memories made with them. And then someone tells us something we didn’t know. For a few minutes, we get to learn something new about someone we thought we could never learn anything new about again. That can be an amazing gift!
I still love hearing a Nick story I haven’t heard before. Those stories don’t have to be important or profound. Sometimes the best ones aren’t. They are just another little glimpse of our person out in the world when we weren’t there to see it. There may still be stories about your person that you haven’t heard yet. Memories sitting with an old friend, a coworker, a neighbor, another family member or someone you may not even know. I like thinking about that. People carrying little pieces of our person with them that maybe someday we will hear about.
~Robyn
Robyn Houston-Bean
Founder, The Sun Will Rise Foundation
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MEETING CHANGES THIS WEEK
People in Recovery Gloucester group cancelled this month.
FEEDBACK SURVEY LANTERN MAKING & GLOWSTICK REMEMBRANCE/LANTERN WALK
Because this was our first time holding this event, we know there may be things we can adjust or improve. Your honest feedback will help us build on what worked and make next year’s experience even better. We would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to complete our short survey if you joined us at one of our lantern-making workshops or the International Overdose Awareness Day Lantern Walk and Glow Stick Ceremony.
Complete the IOAD Event Survey
If you would like more information about the Braintree Community Partnership, please contact Stormy Leung at sleung@braintreema.gov. For information about the Weymouth Prevention Alliance, please contact Keryn Jacobs at KJacobs@weymouth.ma.us. We hope these experiences gave you a meaningful way to remember your person and feel the support of others in the community.
10 YEAR CELEBRATION! OUR LARGEST FUNDRAISER IN YEARS! Please help keep our peer grief support free!
Tickets have sold out for our Together in Light Celebration & Benefit Evening where we will mark 10 years of The Sun Will Rise Foundation, recognize Cheryl Juaire's incredible contributions as she retires and look ahead to this new chapter together as Team Sharing & The Sun Will Rise merge. But there are other ways to support us and help keep peer grief support free! See options below!
Sponsor or Donate! There are many meaningful ways to be part of this special evening. Become a sponsor or make a donation to help keep all our support options free to grievers! Your support helps ensure that people bereaved due to substance use-related causes never have to grieve alone. Deadline is for logo in the memory book is 9/18/26.
For $25, you can include a short message in memory of someone you care about. You do not need to attend the celebration to place a tribute. We would love to fill the memory book with the people who brought all of us together. Deadline is 9/18/26.
Have you always wanted a low-digit license plate???Here is your chance. Bid on a Low-Number Overdose Awareness Plate Our online auction for Massachusetts Overdose Awareness plates numbered 1–99 is now open! These plates have not been available to the public until now! And yes, if you already have a higher digit plate and want to bid on one of these you are eligible! Most bids for the plates start at a $500. Certain single digit numbers are higher. Auction closes 10/3/26!
We’re looking for raffle donations for our upcoming celebration! Gift cards, baskets, experiences, services or other items or even some item your person loved would all be greatly appreciated. Raffle proceeds will support The Sun Will Rise and help us continue providing free peer grief support to people bereaved due to substance use-related causes. Email Leslie@thesunwillrise.org if you have a raffle or mail to 541 Washington St Braintree MA 02184 Thanks!
HERE IS SOME OF WHAT HAPPENED AT TSWR RECENTLY!
More IOAD memorial events happened including in Carver & Malden MA, where our volunteers spread the word about our peer grief support resources!
UPCOMING TSWR & SADOD ACTIVITIES & EVENTS
Tuesday, September 22nd, 6:30 - 8:00 pm Peer Support Community Partners’ psychoeducational workshop: Grief and Anger: How to Cope with a Natural Reaction to Loss. Many grieving people experience anger, toward circumstances, systems, other people, themselves, or even the person who died. Yet anger in grief is often misunderstood, judged, or difficult to talk about openly. You will explore why anger can emerge in grief, the many ways it may show up emotionally and physically, and compassionate ways to cope with and express these feelings. Learn more and register at bit.ly/grief-anger-workshop. Please note this workshop has a $10 fee for individuals outside of Massachusetts. Massachusetts residents may attend this workshop for free due to funding from MA-BSAS by using promo code MASS at the time of registration. Non-MA residents, if cost is an issue, use promo code SCHOLARSHIP to register for free. REGISTER.
October 3, 2026 Boston MA TICKETS SOLD OUT!
BUTTERFLY RELEASE
Milton MA is hosting an IOAD Butterfly Release ceremony on Sunday, September, 20th 10 am on the Milton Town Green Please join us and bring a framed picture of your person.
MEMORIAL WALK
Our partners The Family Restored are holding their 13th annual Memorial Walk. Please join them and walk to remember.
HALO INITIATIVES: FAMILY OVERDOSE SUPPORT FUND
Boston Residents! If you are a BOSTON resident who has experienced the death of a family member to overdose within the last 2 years, you may be eligible for up to $5,000 in financial support. Apply here.
when
when i found you
there was no air
just a choke hold
by the hands of time.
when i
tumbled forward to
write your memorial,
time
tightly tucked itself
between
an ever-present here
and an untraceable
nowhere
past track-lines
on your arms
i can still see.
now
in moments
when i am lost,
in-between
in a tunnel of words
i think i
am saying to you,
please don’t leave me,
instead i am
hearing long-gone heaves
of labored breathing
from gray blue lips,
repeating
what did you take?
now
contractions have begun--
did you climb
back up inside
my womb
when you died?
i can feel you in
my chest--
and i am straining
to push--
and they told me this is the
worst
a person could ever feel--
now
can i, we
be beautiful and made new?
writhing into
a first breath--
as if there is no
you or me?
Angelique Johnston is a writing instructor at a local community college and has a few previous publications. They include "Wallpaper Cars" in Mom Egg Review and “Stretch Marks” which can be found online at www.imperfectparent.com.
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“Please be happy. The sun will rise” ~Nick Bean