Grieving mom sends cards to other parents who lost children to drugs

MaryBeth Moore Zocco used to send her son, Ryan Moore, care packages.

Last December, days before Moore, 25, died from an overdose, his mom mailed him a box with fun winter-themed items: hot chocolate ingredients, an ornament and a red plush blanket.

Moore died when he injected himself with heroin he did not know was laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin.

In her pain and grief after losing him, Moore Zocco was hit with an unexpected realization. Some parents must feel ashamed when their children die like her son did because of the stigma of addiction.

“As parents, we shouldn’t be ostracized about how our children died,” Moore Zocco, 54, said.

Since she could no longer send care packages to her son, Moore Zocco, of Orlando, Florida, decided to try to fill her void in a different way. She now mails cards to other grieving parents who have lost children to drugs.

She calls her letter-writing outreach the FRoM Project, which stands for Forever Ryan’s Mom. Each card is handmade, and she includes a personalized note to each parent. Moore Zocco estimates she has sent 700 cards since April.

“Thinking of you and sending hugs as you remember your child today and always,” she writes.

The positive responses have kept Moore Zocco going. Her goal is to trademark the project name and keep mailing cards. They help keep her son alive and present in her heart.

“I’ve never felt so sure of what I’m doing,” she said.