Blogger Katie Allison Granju shared the devastating news that her 17-year-old son Henry has died. Katie is a well-known expert in Attachment Parenting and writes the Home/Work blog on Babble.com.
A little over a month ago her son Henry was hospitalized after being brutally physically assaulted in a drug-related incident. Afterwards, she wrote for the first time about parenting a teenager dealing with drug addiction. Katie said:
“My beloved, firstborn child suffers from a terrible disease, addiction, and he has been struggling with it for several years. It started with early juvenile experimentation with marijuana at about age 14 and has progressed to where he is now, addicted to hard street drugs and as a result, lying in a critical care hospital bed, dealing with a horrific brain trauma along with various other physical injuries that are the direct result of that disease.”
The story was picked up by Lisa Belkin of the New York Times’ Motherlode and readers (both new and old) have been helping to support her as she and her family kept vigil by Henry’s bedside in the intensive-care unit until he passed away on May 31, 2010.
In lieu of flowers the family has requested donations to a new fund being set up to provide scholarships for families who cannot afford to pay for needed drug and alcohol treatment programs for their children.
The Henry Louis Granju Memorial Scholarship Fund
c/o Administrator: James Anderson
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
2000 Meridian Blvd.
Suite 290
Franklin, TN 37067
The firm Katie works for has also set up a fund, which is meant to help defray some of the family’s expenses:
Crystal Cardwell
c/o Ackermann PR
1111 Northshore Drive, Suite N-400
Knoxville, TN 37919
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I would like to recommend my new ebook as a resource for your reading pleasure, review, and comment. The ebook is intended for use as a “self-improvement” resource for ministries to women’s prisons and/or an inspirational (tell-it-like-it-is) resource for drug prevention programs. The book is non-fiction (It is what it is!); and the original letters are included as images for authenticity.
Heather Heaton is a 34 year old college student trying to better her life, in spite of the baggage she carries from her earlier life. She has been quite successful in accomplishing that goal; and she will use the proceeds from the book to help support herself. Her picture is posted, with her book descriptions, at Smashwords. Heather Heaton can be contacted at heatherheaton@rocketmail.com.
The recently published ebook is entitled (“Her Letters from Prison: Part 1 & Part 2″) by Heather Heaton as published at Smashwords (www.smashwords.com). A brief description of the ebook follows:
Breanna tells the true story of her experiences in prison through her letters to her friend Heath. This is a story of survival and a quest to make a better life. The letters describe the daily shocking events of prison life involving drugs, sex, utter devastation and humiliation, anger, hopelessness, despair, and finally happiness and hope.
Breanna’s “truth” stands still even as the world around her trembles and burns! Bad things do happen to good people; and Breanna is the perfect example of this truth.
Breanna’s inner strengths and principles eventually win out over the corruption and evil that surrounds her. With God’s help, Breanna survives the horrible experiences of prison life and regains her self-confidence and hope for a better life.
“Breanna” was an inmate at Tutwiler Women’s Prison from 2007 to 2009.
“Breanna” benefitted from women’s prison ministries and the LIFE Tech-Wetumpka state-funded self-help program.
The Introduction page of the ebook follows:
Introduction:
The story you are about to read is true. Unfortunately, it’s my story; and the truth is often much more intriguing than fiction. I have had to deal with this story (this situation) for more than the past ten years. I started living out this story with all the hopes and dreams of most (if not all) young American girls; and I will finish this story by realizing most of those hopes and dreams, even though they have been interrupted for a time (in prison) that seems like time and time again. Through it all, I have managed to learn some life lessons that I hope to give to you; and I am hoping that you can pick up on these lessons earlier in life than I have done. I should have learned these lessons long ago. If I had learned these lessons long ago, I assure you that I would not have written the material you are now reading. My hope is that nobody else has to endure what I have endured learning life lessons that should be given to youngsters and adolescents early in life by the ones who truly love them. But here again, there are probably other youngsters and adolescents, much like me, who will have to learn these life lessons painfully for themselves, the hard way – by experiencing them first hand. Well, if you continue to read my story, here’s what you will experience – drugs, sex, violence, prison, utter devastation/humiliation, anger, hopelessness, despair, and finally happiness and hope!
If you don’t take me seriously and you follow in my path, you are going to experience false hope and disillusionment! You are going to experience broken trusts, by those whom you trusted most! You are going to experience pain and agony that brings you to the brink of self-destruction! You will lose your freedom! You will lose the right to think for yourself and to make your own decisions! You will lose your sense of self-worth and self-dignity! You are going to lose your ability to support yourself! You are going to lose your self-confidence! You are going to be victimized; and you can do little to avoid this! You will struggle and struggle and struggle just to get yourself back onto an even keel! But if you can ever manage to muster a tremendous mountain of stubbornness and determination, and if you can begin to think better of yourself, you will be able to recover most, but not all, of your ability to manage your own affairs while regaining some of your self-confidence and feeling of self-worth. I am just about to accomplish this in my life! Being just about able to accomplish this in my life is what has led me to (it has allowed me to) share my story with you. At first, I didn’t think I could ever share my story with anyone. But, I really don’t want you to actually share (live through) my experiences, even if you think you can handle it. Just read this story and do something positive in your own life.
Note: Names have been changed to protect each individual’s privacy.
Dedication:
This work is dedicated to Valrise Bendolf (Clay County Dept. of Corrections Holding Facility), Jackie Ratliff (Kilby – Montgomery Womens’ Facility), Fawn Romie/Mr. Roberts/Gary Parsons (Life Tech) and all of Mr. Robert’s little roses that he so diligently cultivated. For all their good works, these people saved my life!
I hope that you find this ebook both interesting and helpful.
Sincerely,
Heather Heaton
heatherheaton@msn.com