We have written pages and pages of stories about the insidious scourge of the opioid-heroin epidemic in this region.
None of it has had the impact of the piece that appeared on our op-ed page Tuesday.
Ginny Paul is a Springfield mom. She knows all too well the dangers inherent in this new evil.
She lost her son Doug to heroin.
It took a tremendous amount of courage for her to write the moving, personal piece on the loss of her son and her struggle to come to grips with it.
She should be hailed for taking a stand, for not standing in the shadows.
There is a new saying in journalism, which finds itself under siege these days.
It says, "Democracy dies in darkness."
So do kids.
Too many people continue to remain silent - even as the death toll from heroin and opioid abuse continues to rise.
Ginny Paul decided to take a different route. She decided to bare her soul - and her son's struggle - for every reader of this newspaper and our website to read.
We are all better for it.
Thank you, Ginny.
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