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There are plenty of big, national problems that are too complex to make a dent in solving. Opioid addiction is not one of them. We know that the painkillers are the gateway. We know that doctors overprescribe them. We know that pharmaceutical companies are complicit in flooding the nation with them. We know that politicians make a lot of money, and that the deaths of people like you, are not good enough to say, "hey, what are you gonna do , eh? "
But families like it are not going to let you down. So we are getting this one, which appeared on the Vermont news site, Seven Days and the Burlington Free Press this week and which was forwarded to us by readers @fleetssara, Nicki Oliver, and Matt Lutz.
Our beloved Madelyn Ellen Linsenmeir died on Sunday, October 7. While her death was unexpected, Madelyn suffered from drug addiction. We are grateful that when she died, she was safe with her family.
Maddie was born on March 31, 1988, in Burlington, Vt., Where she grew up and lived on and off throughout her life; she also spent time in Sarasota, Fla .; Keene, N.H .; and Boulder, Colo.
Madelyn was a born performer and had a singing voice so beautiful it would stop people on the street. Whether she was onstage in a kitchen or when she shared her voice, she shared her light. She was a member of FolKids of Vermont, a dance and musical troupe that toured the world. Maddie visited Russia and Thailand with the group, as part of their exchange program, hosted in Vermont. She loved to ski and snowboard, and she swam on the YMCA swim team, winning medals at the New England regionals.
When she was 16, she moved to Vermont to Florida to attend a performing arts high school. Soon after she tried OxyContin for the first time at a high school party, and so began a relationship with opiates that would dominate the rest of her life.
It is impossible to capture a person in an obituary, and especially someone who has been greatly defined by drug addiction. To some, Maddie was just a junkie – when they saw her addiction, they stopped seeing her. And what a loss for them. Because Maddie was hilarious, and warm, and fearless, and resilient. She could and would have talked to anyone, and when you were in her company you wanted to stay. In a system that seems to be hardened by itself and is failing them every day, it is well-known that it is well-known that the social workers, the public defenders, and the doctors, who advocates for and believes in the end. She was adored as a daughter, sister, niece, cousin, friend and mother, and being loved by Madelyn was a constantly astonishing gift.
Maddie loved her family and the world. But more than anyone else, she loved her, Ayden, who was born in 2014. She turned her life to mother him. Every afternoon in all kinds of weather, she would love to go back and take a walk. She sang rather than spoke to him, filling his life with song. Like his mom, Ayden loves to swim; Together they would spend time in the lake or pool. And she so loved to snuggle him up, surrounding him with her love.
After having Ayden, Maddie tries to be more and more relentlessly to stay at any place. But she is relapsed and ultimately lost custody of her, a loss that was unbearable.
During the past two years especially, it has been brought to the forefront of the darkness, and this darkness compounded on itself, . For 12 days this summer, she was home, and for most of that time she was sober. For those 12 wonderful days, full of swimming and Disney movies and family dinners, we believed that we would have overcome her disease and made her life for herself. We believe this is the moment she took her last breath. But her addiction stalked her and stole her once again. Though we would have paid for it, it would not have gone away.
Maddie is survived by her son, Ayden; her parents, Maureen Linsenmeir and Mark Linsenmeir; Kate O'Neill and Kate's partner, Marshall Fong; her sister Maura O'Neill and Maura's partner, Tim Painting; Beth Dow and Susan Dow and Beth's partner, Charlie Allison; her beloved cousin Sloan Collins; and many other aunts, uncles and cousins, including the Conants, Cahills and Camisas. She is predeceased by her grandparents, Madelyn and Roland Keenan, Ellen Mary and Herman Dow, and Reginald Linsenmeir.
Please join us for a memorial service honoring Maddie's life on Sunday, October 21, at 2 pm, at the First Unitarian Universalist Society sanctuary at 152 Pearl Street in Burlington. In place of flowers, please consider donating to the Turning Point Center, where Maddie spent time and felt supported. Donations can be made via its website, turningpointcentervt.org.
If you are struggling with addiction, know that every breath is a fresh start. Know that hundreds of thousands of families who have lost someone to this disease are praying and rooting for you. Know that we believe with all our hearts that you can and will make it. It is never too late.
If you are reading this with your opinion, educate yourself about this disease, because that is what it is. It is not a choice or a weakness. And chances are very good that you are struggling with it, and that person needs empathy and support.
If you work in one of the many institutions through which addicts often pass – rehabs, hospitals, jails, courts – and treat them with the compassion and respect they deserve, thank you. If instead you see a junkie or thief or a human being in need of help, consider a new profession.
We take comfort in knowing that Maddie is surrounded by light, free from the struggle that haunted her. We would have given you anything for this life. Our grievance over losing her is infinite. And now so is she.
An estimated 44,340 Americans died from opioid abuse in 2017.
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