I know, because I have heard many people tell me over the years and particularly lately, that many folks would like to see more honest, more direct obituaries about the lives of those who have died and the circumstances of their deaths. I don’t think it is due to some prurient interest as much as simply stating the truth, out in the open, about the challenges that most of us face in life.

I understand the apprehension to do so. It can be embarrassing to “air the dirty laundry.” Folks can even feel shame about their families. I think that is why it is so very rare that we read some of the unpleasant details of a person’s life and even death in an obituary. And that is why I think it was so very brave of the family of Molly Parks to explain how she had struggled with and died from her addiction to heroin, in Molly’s obituary published in these pages this past Monday, April 20.

It has been a growing problem in Maine for many years and no community has been spared ”“ from the most rural to the most urban; from the most poor to the most affluent. And even solidly middle class, hard-working, good families have been touched by this scourge. Don’t fall for the false thinking that it doesn’t affect your family or community. Every one of us is affected in one way or another.

Molly’s family, in their horrific suffering, have committed a selfless act. They have shared their story and risked blame, ridicule and judgment, in an effort to get a conversation going about the epidemic of serious drug addiction that plagues our communities. Through open dialog perhaps we can better understand addiction, how our loved ones fall prey to it and hopefully beat the beast back and save a few lives.

My sympathies go out to the Parks family.

If you would like to share your personal story or that of your family, we encourage you to use the pages of our Opinion section and get the dialog going.

Thanks for reading, for staying informed and engaged in our community by reading every day. Please drive safe, be kind, hug your children and have a wicked great spring week.

Please feel free to comment on my musings with a Letter to the Editor by emailing jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or mail a note to Journal Tribune, Attn: Editor, 457 Alfred St. Biddeford. ME 04005.

— Bruce M. Hardina is the Publisher of the Journal Tribune, a singer song-writer, a philosopher, a student of life and the human experience, a columnist, a loving neighbor, friend, father, son and brother.