Norma keeps a promise: to ensure her son’s anti-stigma messages of gratitude and love continue on.
Norma tells the story of her son Chris, a man who struggled with addiction for over 20 years. He escaped that life and created a popular podcast that helped others find and travel the road to recovery, before tragically passing away from a heart attack at 47.
“People struggling with addiction come from the best of families and the hardest of families,” says Norma.
I think we need to take stigma away so people can reach out, so they don’t have to hide what they struggle with or what’s hurting them.
That stigma works both ways: families can be reluctant to help those suffering. “They’re embarrassed because they’re good families and their other kids are good,” says Norma. “And they don’t want anyone to know that they have a son or a daughter or a niece or a dad or a mom that’s struggling because they’re worried about what everyone else will think. Many of the people I talk to—some are business owners, some are on welfare—know each other and they have the same stories, but they don’t talk to one another. Doesn’t matter what their social standing is in the city, they’re still embarrassed by it.”
Knowing how stigma can drive such a wedge between loved ones, Norma’s approach is one of compassion and understanding. Alongside Chris’ struggles, her niece Jesse also struggled with addiction. “At the end of every conversation we had,” says Norma, “I would always say to Jesse, you know you are loved and when you’re ready, I’ll be there.”
Ready: a simple word that acknowledged the problem but didn’t judge it. I’ll be here: a guaranteed way out, without question. She would say the same thing to Chris when speaking with him, and one day Chris was ready. Norma and two friends braved travelling to a very tough neighbourhood, found Chris, and got him a burger. Being his mom, she mentioned the importance of gratitude, to which he did not respond (he was too busy inhaling the burger).
But he remembered. After a rocky road of recovery, Chris found joy in creativity. He started a blog about his journey, which eventually became the podcast called Ashes to Awesome (he produced 280 episodes). “In every podcast, he asked each guest: what are you grateful for today?” says Norma, “And then he would end the podcast with asking them and himself to share the words ‘You are loved.’”
One of the podcast’s taglines is ‘Smashing Stigma.’ Norma says Chris told her, “I wanted to let people know that because you’re suffering from addiction doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. I’m trying to attract people struggling like I was with these stories so that they can get better.”
He attracted more than that. The podcast grew to include cohosts, partners, and sponsors like the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Center.
In the wake of Chris’ tragic passing, Norma has vowed to try to maintain his platform’s momentum. “I told him I would ensure that his message of recovery and that ‘you are loved’ will go forward.” And so it has, with this story. And with luck, the Ashes to Awesome podcast will continue to help fight stigma associated with addiction.