USA First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff

Dear First Partner Siebel Newsom,
My son Alex Rojas, forever, 25 was my youngest son out of 3 boys. I raised my sons as a
single mother. As a child he was a sweetheart. He would always hug me so tight, and I would
call him my “googoo”. He grew up to be a wonderful, loving, caring, and giving young man.
He would always take care of me when I was sick and tell me “I got you mom”. He always
made sure I didn’t need anything. He took care of his older brothers and kept us all together.
He was the father of a one-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son. I have watched my
grandson cry for his daddy as he cries and hugs the picture on the wall. He talks to his daddy
as he does his homework and looks up as if his dad was watching. His little girl always waves
at her dad’s picture and says, “Bye daddy”, as she blows kisses at him. It breaks my heart
into a million pieces when I see this.
My heart is so broken, I feel as if I lost my breath and can’t catch it again. There are days I
can’t deal with this excruciating pain I feel as if I’m going to go crazy. A big part of me has left
with my son. I feel so empty, and I want to wake up from this horrible nightmare. My family
and I will have to live the rest of our lives with this devastating pain all because one person
gave my son a pill that took his life and forever changed ours.
Alex is by far not the only young person who has fallen victim to this drug. There are
numerous stories like his. Parents all over the world have come together. We have created
two memorial walls - one with photos and one with names - to honor those who have lost
their lives due to this drug. I am including Alex’s frame in this letter, along with a brochure of
virtual memorial walls, albums, and our awareness campaign. These digital walls and albums
update automatically, and we would also like the photos displayed in hard copy format.
We believe that our loved ones should be treated like victims of a weapon of mass
destruction. They were all victims of Purdue Pharma, Chinese and Mexican cartels. Our
group of California parents would love to meet with you and work together to prevent this
from happening ever again.
We urge you to help us find a permanent location for the Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall within
our Capitol. Our goal is to raise awareness about the devastating effects of drug addiction
and the dangers of fentanyl. We want to honor those who have lost their lives to this
epidemic. We believe that your support and involvement would be crucial in achieving this
goal.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and we look forward to hearing from you
soon.
Sincerely,
Lilly Vasquez
Garden Grove, CA
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