I'll Watch Over You

I am writing to you today in an effort to prevent other parents from facing the horror we have faced in losing our son Timmy.

This note is being sent on the anniversary of the phone call every parent dreads more than anything in the world. One year ago, today we received the call that our little boy had died.

As I turned to tell Cathie what had happened, she fell into my arms begging for the news to be a mistake, but with calls to the police and hospital, we had to face the truth. Timmy had died from an overdose. We would later learn that it was Heroin with Fentanyl.

Our older son, Frankie, stood beside us, trying to be strong for us and hiding his own devastation. After we could speak coherently again, we had to make the first of many calls sharing this devastating news. We called our daughter Kristin in Los Angeles to tell her that her brother Timmy was gone.

The pain of each moment thereafter - telling the world we lost our child, journeying to Florida, bringing him home for a funeral, and living each day without him - is impossible to put into words. It’s taken a year and more tears than I thought possible to even write this and ask for your support.

Sadly, almost everyone knows someone fighting addiction. Too many times individuals, like our Timmy, lose their fight, and people express their condolences saying, “I can’t imagine what you are going through.”

We don’t want anyone to imagine this pain, or even worse, to experience it themselves. It is far worse than one can possibly imagine.

Our family has organized the “I’ll Watch Over You” Endowed Scholarship Fund through Caron Treatment Centers, one of the foremost addictive care and treatment organizations in the world, in the name of our late son Timmy. There’s nothing we can do to bring our son back, but we can honor his memory. Through our efforts and this fund, other families will get the help they need to fight addiction. If we are able to help even one family avoid the pain of losing a loved one, Timmy’s memory will not be forgotten, and his death will not be in vain.

No one should be measured or defined by the challenges they face in life, or whether they overcome those challenges. The measure of a person is what they do to confront and overcome their challenges. No one would ever suggest the life of a cancer patient is defined by cancer. They will be defined by the courage they used to make the days of their life meaningful. Addiction is no different.

In July of 2018, Timothy David Gavin lost his fight with addiction at the age of 32. His life is measured by the joy he brought to people and the strength and courage he used to face his challenges. Although he battled addiction, he will not be remembered as an addict. He will be remembered as a son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and uncle.

The twelfth step of recovery requires carrying the message of recovery forward and helping others learn to live a life of sobriety. By establishing the I’ll Watch Over You Endowed Scholarship Fund, Tim’s family is committed to completing the twelfth step for him.

In the new role God has chosen for him, Tim will watch over his family and those in need of help.

And we will always commemorate the day he was born.