Melissa Etheridge’s son, Beckett, passed away at the age of only 21 back in May after a drug overdose and now, the mother is talking about finding a ‘small amount of peace’ after the tragic loss. Here’s what she had to say while a guest on Thursday’s Today with Hoda and Jenna!
Etheridge started by telling co-hosts Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb that ‘Our family is really, really close, and all of our strength comes from the love from the rest of us. I am not alone in this nation of families who have lost loved ones to opioid addiction [either]. It was a long journey.’
Sure enough, the young man tragically lost his life after years of opioid addiction, time during which his mom felt like she couldn’t do anything to save him as per her interview for Rolling Stone last month.
With that being said, when asked what comforts and gives her a little bit of peace, the 59 year old mother shared that it’s ‘knowing he’s not in pain anymore.’
Of course, that is not to say that he is not still greatly missed by his family and friends.
‘Of course we miss him, but my wife and my three other children, we come together and we know he’s here in spirit,’ Etheridge stressed, adding that they have no choice but take the healing process ‘one day at a time,’ she told the hosts.
.@metheridge talks about how she is coping with grief after the death of her son to opioid addiction. She talks about starting The Etheridge Foundation to research effects of opioid addiction and find alternatives to prescribing addictive pharmaceuticals to treat pain. pic.twitter.com/6AywV9YV3P
— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) September 10, 2020
At this point in time, she started talking about another thing that has been helping with that – The Etheridge Foundation!
‘We’re just starting it and it’s rolling out and it is a foundation to research alternatives. To get off of this track of pharmaceuticals for pain. It’s research to understand addiction. We really want to move to the forefront of things that can help,’ Etheridge stated.