BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Western New York woman is honoring the life of her sister who was lost to addiction in 2017.
"She brought joy and silliness and just a lot of comfort to all of us. She struggled with addiction most of her adult years. We had really great years, and she had really hard years," Kristin Dobiesz said.
Kristin Dobiesz lost her sister, Melissa, to addiction almost seven years ago.
"She was my best friend even up to the last few years that she was here, and there was a lot of struggles, I never left her side," Dobiesz said.
Melissa left behind many family members, including a young son. He turns ten this year.
"She gave us Mason, her son. So that's a piece of her that's here with us still," Dobiesz said.
Melissa was 27 when she passed away. Kristin says until Melissa opened up to her family about her struggles with addiction, they had never really gone through something like that before.
"You never imagine that watching someone you love struggle with addiction could happen to you. We have a huge loving family. We have cousins, and grandparents, and aunts, and uncles, and friends, and we're so close and it was very, very hard," Dobiesz said. "After we lost Melissa, it took me a good year, year and a half to really reach out and want to do something in her honor, in her memory."
They connected with Kids Escaping Drugs and started "Melissa's Mission" — the group raises money for the "Rise for Recovery Walk" to honor Melissa.
"I think that she would appreciate and genuinely be proud of us for wanting to help others and not be ashamed of what she struggled with, or where she was in life and how she passed. It's something that I truly feel comfort with that she would be proud of us," Dobiesz said.
Kristin says if you're thinking about connecting with KED, do it.
"When you finally get through that grieving process and you are wanting to do something positive with your grief, I really feel like Kids Escaping Drugs really gave us that opportunity," Dobiesz said.