I always thought I had prepared myself for when this happened….I hadn’t…for my Mason Lee Bland, born June 5, 1998, deceased May 16, 2022
Mason, my son, was a kind, sweet, beautiful soul. He was funny and goofy and he loved to laugh. Mason, well he was Mason… he lived his life on his own terms and made no apologies for it…he never wanted to be like everyone else and it takes a lot of courage to be yourself and to own it…. Mason owned it lol
Mason was an addict… I will not lower my head in shame as I tell you that about him because it’s part of his story. Yes, Mason was an addict …but he was also so much more than that. He was more than an overdose. He was more than an incident report number. He was more than his mistakes He is my son….Although sometimes Masons demons helped make his choices …he was more than those bad choices… he was also his good choices… he chose to be kind to people…he chose to be nice…he chose to get up every day and make people better off by knowing him and I’m proud I got to call him my son. I’m proud he allowed me to be more than my mistakes and I’m proud of who I am because he was my son. Because of my son I am alive, because at 6 years old he chose to get me help and saved me from being killed. He was more than an addict he was my hero and will continue to be my hero.
Mason leaves behind many family and friends that provided him love and support along the way. He leaves behind his mom, Sheila Goss Meador, of Shawsville; his grandmother, Jenny Phoenix, of Shawsville; his brothers, Joshua S. Meador and Adam Phoenix; his sister, Kelseigh V. Meador, along with Natalyn and Paislee, of Blacksburg; Mason’s bonus parents, Sara and Chris Mcintosh along with Abigail and Finley; Uncle Jacob Trump, of Shawsville, along with Owen; aunt Soterea (Andi) Bland; and Uncle Jevon Monday, of Colorado, you both meant so,so much to Mason and he adored you both; Haley Oliveira was Mason’s person… she was very, very important to him and he helped her do things he couldn’t do for himself…
I will never be ashamed of how my son passed…. an addict is still a human being that is loved… that addict is still a momma or a daddy, sister or brother, neighbor, teacher., and addict can be any one of us…it knows no color, race, or creed.
In lieu of flowers or money… please go home and give your kids an extra hug tonight…be proud of them just because..
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