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

Dear Governor Sanders,
My name is Heather Leonard. I lost my son, Preston Klein Leonard, to substance use
disorder on June 28th, 2023. He is forever 27 years old.
"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control: against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
This verse in the Book of Galatians describes my precious Preston almost to a "T". He
gave when he himself didn't have. He loved, although he couldn't see why we loved
him the way he loved us. Preston lost his father in 5th grade suddenly to an undetected
heart condition, right before a planned hunting trip to Russellville. He was devastated,
we both were. I believe this is where Preston started to bottle things up inside of
himself. Although we, as mothers, do our very best to protect our babies from pain and
heartache, we couldn't know what all was going on if he wouldn't tell me or the
counselors. He absolutely appeared to be going through the grief process fine, and as a
single mother, the assurance from the professionals was a welcomed relief. Then, in
the 8th grade Preston dropped down to 82 lbs, in what seemed like overnight. I was
panicking, thinking he had some form of cancer. After much research and me stalking
my son and absolutely getting no sleep just to sit up at night to listen at his bedroom
door, I finally figured out what was going on. No, it wasn't drugs, yet! My 14-year-old
SON had ANOREXIA NERVOSA, which is very rare for a 14-year-old boy to have. And, he
had it bad. Preston had a “textbook” case of anorexia. The details of anorexia alone
are just as horrific as watching an addict, but this is where I believe Preston’s selfdestructive
path started.
I got him well until he turned 17 and it was game on again with the devil himself....
methamphetamine. The nights I have spent looking in ditches, trap houses, busting
through doors to see where my son was would make your jaw drop. I was a white,
small town little girl, busting in these dangerous meth houses that most of the time
had no electricity or running water, and almost all the time, I went alone. I would carry
nothing with me but a flashlight, my cell phone, and sheer determination to save my
son’s life. That's it, that's all I would have with me. He would get clean for a while, and
my hope would grow high. Then, bam! He would end up in jail or the hospital, or I
would not be able to find him again. Then the cycle would begin all over again. Preston
truly wanted to do better, especially after my grandson was born, his son. He did very
well for about a year and a half. Then, here his old demons came creeping up at him
again.
Governor Sanders, I have some horror stories about what addiction has done to my
family that you just wouldn't believe except they honestly are true stories. I followed
all the guidelines available at the time and did what the experts said to do with
someone
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