Florida Letters for First Lady Casey DeSantis

Dear First Lady Casey DeSantis,
I am an ambassador for the Drug Epidemic Memorial Walls. I lost my beautiful son, Anthony aka
Tony, who is forever 32. He lived in Pinellas County, Palm Harbor, Florida, the town next to
Dunedin, where our Honorable Governor is from. He was poisoned by fentanyl, and we remain
devastated. We loved him dearly.
Tony was the kindest and most empathetic person I have ever known. We called him our “Good
Samaritan”. He was always helping others. He always thought of others, before himself, friend to
everyone, never met a stranger, and constantly tried to help others. At his funeral, the Priest
recalled a time he was picking fruit for elders with some of his classmates from Catholic school.
One of the classmates was cold, Tony took off his sweater and gave it to him. I witnessed this
many times, over and over, with jackets, shoes, belts, t-shirts, etc. He was a Giver. The world lost
this beautiful helper on 12/18/2019. He never wanted to leave us. He loved life. His beautiful
smile could light up any room. He deserved to live a long life. His family still grieves for him and
will for the rest of their lives.
I know you have 3 beautiful children. You know the love; a mother has for their child. I only have
memories of my Tony. No parent deserves to lose their child. We need your help. Would you
assist us in finding a permanent location for a Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall within our Capitol?
We have created two memorial Walls. One with photos and one with names. I am including
Tony’s frame, below. I am also including the brochure of virtual memorial walls, albums, and our
awareness campaign.
These digital walls and albums update automatically. We would also like the photos displayed in
hard
copy format. The wall of names can be projected on a wall so families can touch their loved
one's name.
We would like our loved ones to be treated like victims. They were all victims of Purdue Pharma
(an
American cartel) and many others. Now, they are victims of Chinese and the Mexican Cartels.
We are using the word “drugism” for the prejudice toward drug users - like racism.
A group of our Florida moms would love to meet with you and work together to prevent this from
happening ever again. To save other mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts,
uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, friends and relatives from the never-ending pain and
heartache of not having your loved one here on earth. To know their lives were ended and could
have been prevented.
Sincerely,
Terri Bolander
Palm Harbor, FL