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

Dear First Lady MK Pritzker,
I am an ambassador for the Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall. After hearing the news of my
son’s death, I thought arranging his service was going to be the most difficult thing I would
ever have to do, but I was wrong. Living my life without my son’s smile & his hugs is even
harder. He would have been 19 years old on January 30, 2023. His name is Thomas
Signorile. He was a precious, gentle soul & incredibly smart. He graduated with more than
a 4.0 GPA & received a scholarship to attend Carthage College. Thomas was also
transgender, FTM. He used to talk about having a purpose in life & making a difference.
He wanted to have a family someday, have kids of his own & adopt. He was very eager to
adopt kids that felt unloved & out of place. He was always there for everyone & always
knew the right thing to say to make you feel better. He was an inspiration, always
encouraging you to stay positive, to keep fighting & reminding you to love your “authentic”
self (his words) no matter what society tells you. To be true to who you are, to accept &
love yourself. Thomas also suffered from anxiety, depression & gender dysphoria.
Although he was very invested in his therapy, he had been on so many medications
throughout his life; sometimes five different medications at a time. He suffered a great
deal from the side effects, both mentally & physically, from headaches, stomach aches,
lack of focus, dry mouth, fatigue, restlessness, tremors, twitching, serotonin syndrome,
agitation, trouble sleeping & feeling "numb.” He was determined to feel better & that is
why he chose to study medicine. He wanted to become a scientist to cure diseases, find
ways to create better medicines that can help & cure people without devastating side
effects.
Thomas had a vast concern for politics. He was concerned for transgender rights, the
environment, the poor, the elderly, minorities, & animals. He wanted everyone to be
treated fairly, wanted the world to be a better place & wanted his visions to become a
reality. I was never interested in voting, but Thomas took his time to educate me. He was
a huge supporter of your husband; JB Pritzker & he made sure once he turned 18 that his
vote would matter. I remember that day, (November 8, 2022) it was one of our last
conversations. He was worried that he wouldn’t make it home in time to vote & was
anxious because Darren & Pritzker were neck & neck. Thomas said there was no way
that Pritzker was going to lose because we didn’t make it to vote. He was at school at
Carthage that day; but rushed home to make sure he voted for your husband & made
sure that I voted too. This was the first time either of us had voted. This was just three
days before he died. On November 11, 2022, Thomas died from acute fentanyl toxicity. He
was poisoned with pills laced with fentanyl. Thomas is no longer here to pursue his
dreams, no longer here to be that shining light. A son, a brother, a cousin, a nephew, and
a friend has been ripped away from the people who loved him. The magnitude of grief,
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