It is so hard to explain how amazing my boy Colton was. His soul shined brightly. He was so loving and tender even though he was strong and courageous. He loved all kinds of literature but was drawn to poetry. Poetry connected him to who he was on the inside, and he knew he wasn’t alone in his wise and amazing way of seeing the world. He was colorful and sad. He was up at the top of the mountain and down in the deepest part of the ocean. He loved adventure and animals. His friends talk about how he would listen to them when they needed someone to hear their pain. Colton had a way of helping them find parts of themselves they could not see on their own. His hugs were like magic bullets full of love and compassion. His eyes smiled from across a room and left you feeling happy. His laugh made your day. His love of nature and simple things was always so heartfelt. Music and his colors (tie-dye) were the two things he could never be without. He loved his family. He did all the things that siblings do with his sisters and at the end of the day, they adored each other. However, sometimes it may have taken them more than a day to remember that!
His addiction stole his life and took him to places he never wanted to know but it did not take our love and he always fought to get back to us. I have never seen anyone fight for their life the way he did. His courage to face his disease was more than any person I have ever known. I could go on forever with all the things that made him great to me, but I think his greatest strength was the love he had inside him. He glowed with love, and it was awesome to love him and have an angel to call my son.
I love you baby thank you for being my son.
The staff on the Kids Escaping Drugs Campus helped Colton find a way to keep climbing out from the pit of hell that was always trying to swallow him up each time he turned his back on it. The campus gave our family a way to be as healthy as possible with great awareness and love and support. I hope every parent who needs it, has the strength to step through the doors and ask for help, because you will always get it. In many ways what we learned during and after Colton’s time on the campus saved our family and gave us Colton for many more years than would have been possible. We are very grateful every day for KED even now after he has been gone from us for 7 years.
Love to you all
Becky, Stephanie, and Shayna
Colton’s Journey to Liberation (CJtoL) is a movement created to inspire awareness and change the conversation around substance abuse.
Hamburg's Colton Lasker was 23-years-old when he passed away from complications relating to a 10-year battle with drug addiction, leaving behind a mother, two sisters, and score of loved ones reeling from his loss.
Just like heart disease or cancer, addiction is a chronic, often deadly disease, affecting approximately 10 million Americans each year, according to the National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Lasker's tragic story is unfortunately not unique, with drug addiction and substance abuse issues coming to forefront of national consciousness due to the recent onslaught of young people dying from the disease of addiction.
https://cjtol.com
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