In life, it is easy to be blinded by superficial things and get caught up in the latest trends or material goods. One of my family members, cousin Marie was a victim of this exact thing. Her life had ups and downs and she worked hard to achieve success. Howvever, with Marie’s career success and independant adult life came excess baggage and obstacles she could not overcome.

Marie always had the best intentions. She was smart, beautiful, and a true business woman. She moved to the city after attending Bentley University in Massachusetts. When she moved her only focus was starting up a business and making her own money. Women ctreating their own businesses was not something all women decided to do at the time. This is why Marie worked non-stop. Marie started a company that wrote the side affects and details on the back of medicine and prescriptions. Her determination and hardwork have shown me that if I want to succeed in my life I will need to work tirelessly as well. The downside to Marie’s new city life was that she worked so hard she isolated herself from the rest of the family. I am sure she did not mean to abruptly stop talking to everyone, but she was a busy woman. Her business grew and she became wealthy. Her hard work had ultimately paid off and she was earning her own money. However, she began to cut herself off from the people who loved her. Several family members reached out to her, only to get a cold, distant reply. She did not have anyone but herself to spend this money on. To make herself feel better and wholesome she bought cars, apartments, clothes and other material things. For a while this may have made her feel better, but as an end result her lonliness could not be fixed by spending her money.
                 

Marie was so wealthy she could have helped people in a big way. Instead she got so caught up in her money that the only person she used it on was herself. Her isolation from my family hurt people. Her sister Joanne and brother Michael adored her. However, her jealousy over her older sister Joanne’s job and marriage to a surgeon with three sons made her shut out Joanne. I believe she did not mean to be so harsh to people, but really did not know how else to act. Marie was not socially equipped and from the things I have heard about her I can tell she had a hard time interacting with people. Michael and Marie were always close though and it is safe to say he was her achilles heal. Anything he needed she was there for him and vice versa. However,  she was often unreachable for days at a time. Several of my aunts and uncles flew out to New York from Florida and Alaska, where they lived; When they did reach her she would turn them down and tell them to leave. I realized after hearing this that no matter how much money someone has, the only thing that can make someone happy is the people closest to them, because when all the superficial things are gone those people are the only ones left.
              

The greatest affect Marie’s wealth had on her life was when she used that money to buy prescription drugs. Her feelings of lonliness and a void in her heart were replaced by doing drugs every minute of everyday. Her drug use made her flaky, unreliable, unreachable and cold. Her personality changed drastically and she was not the same woman. Her addiction became her life. One of the reasons I was never close to Marie and only met her for the first time a few years ago, was because my mother did not want us to be afraid when we met her. Everyone loved Marie and cared for her because she was family. But sadly no one ever knew what mental state she would be in and tried to keep a distance from her in order to not get hurt repeatedly. Marie went to a therpist several times, but each visit consisted of her not talking about her problems because she refused to believe she had any. I almost wish my mother introduced us to Marie earlier on in life, because it would have been much easier meeting her when we did not know what things like drug abuse was. Even though she is family, I must admit it was difficult to talk to her and be around her knowing what she was doing. My mom and her siblings tells us amazing stories about Marie, but they also tells us sad ones. If you were to look at Marie you would not see anything wrong. That is why I always thought she was healthy and fine. Drug abuse is an illness. It is an uphill battle with one’s self. Marie’s drug usage makes me cautious about drugs and the power of being extremely wealthy. I have learned that just because a person looks a certain way on the outside, does not mean they are really okay. I have learned to not judge somebody at first sight because you never know what someone is going through.
                

My Uncle Ricky got sick years ago and happened to be Marie’s father. This was at the peak of her drug usage and she was living in New York at the time. Uncle Ricky and Aunt Josie, her mother, lived in Florida at the time. Every family member contacted Marie to tell her that Uncle Ricky was dying, but nobody reached her. My Aunt Josie went out to New York to find Marie herself. Josie loved Marie because she was her daughter, and got frustrated with her but always forgave her. So Aunt Josie arrived in  New York and found Marie, but while she was in New York Uncle Ricky passed away. My entire family was angry with Marie because Josie was out searching her when her husband of 50 years passed away. This was a soft subject in my family, but everyone soon understood that she was not reachable because she was sick, not because she had bad intentions or wished for Josie to miss her husband’s death. But, this taught me another thing about drugs, which is that they can change someone’s personality not just physical being.
                

Sadly, Marie overdosed on drugs last spring at the age of 55. She was found deceased in her home in New York all alone. In typical fashion, her borther Michael had called several times to see how she was doing, but did not get a call back. Police went to her home and found her body. It is still unknown how long she was unresponsive. Even though she did not have a great relationship with family members, we all loved her deeply. Her life taught me personally, several important lessons and I wish I had the chance to know her like my other relatives so that I could learn the good things about her instead of hearing the bad things. I have learned to not let wealth and money swallow me and completely absorb me when I myself am successful one day. I have learned to keep family close because they are the constant in our lives when everything around us is changing. I see that it is okay to seek help and guidance in hard times when we cannot get ourselves out of trouble. I have learned the affect and repercussions doing drugs has on a human. For a brief amount of time they can make a human feel invincible and full of life. But they always wear off and do not change the problems in one’s life. Marie’s death was a tragedy and some would argue it was her fault. But she was sick for a long time, battling with her own mind everyday. I think what happened to Marie was ultimately invevitable just from looking at what she had done in the past. I love her very much even though i only really knew her for 6 or so years. I now know that just because you do not have a personal, deep relationship with someone, they can still teach you so  much and impact your life forever.