Mending the Hole in Your Heart

[Jaunty Guitar Music]

Mike: Welcome everyone. This is Avoiding The Addiction Affliction, a series brought to you by Westwords Consulting. I'm your host, Mike McGowan.

Mike: Growing up in Loveland, Ohio, Jack Quehl was successful in almost everything he did. Sports, academics, friends, but has happened, happened way too often in the past several years.

Mike: A night of socializing. Took a tragic turn. And on September 20th, 2021, Jack Quehl lost his life to Fentanyl poisoning. This is always hard to do, but Jack's parents, Stephanie and Tom, have been generous enough to join us today to talk about Jack, the work they've done to raise awareness for Fentanyl poisoning, and also the work of their foundation.

Mike: Welcome, Stephanie. Welcome Tom.

Stephanie: Oh, thank you.

Tom: Thank you for having us, Mike.

Mike: Well, I'm just so glad you could do it, and of course we're all so sorry about what you've had to go through. But this is more than just about September 20th. First, tell, tell us about

Mike: Jack.

Tom: So Jack was born in 1997, our first son.

Tom: And he had a great life that started very young with sports. He was a football fanatic. At one time I think we had bought every NFL jersey for him...

Mike: [laugh]

Tom: ...that he wore through the neighborhood, and he would ride his bike and, and pick and try to find pickup games for football with his friends. He just enjoyed life and as he grew you know, Stephanie has a teaching background and loves to read, and she invoked that on him.

Tom: And he became a, just, just an immersed himself in books, fiction and nonfiction. So, as he progressed through life he got to high school. We went to a high school in Cincinnati called Archbishop Moeller High School, and was a very good football player for Moeller. Also excelled in academics. He was top 10 in his class.

Tom: Got a scholarship to the University of South Carolina where he joined the Darla Moore International School of Business. And enrolled in their study abroad program, which took him to three different countries through three different semesters. And he made a lot of really good friends that have reached out to us over the years since Jack passed away from all over on different continents and while Jack was studying abroad.

Tom: Those three semesters, he had breaks where he would travel throughout the countries. The countries were Germany, Singapore, and Brazil. And Jack spoke fluent Portuguese. So he really loved Brazil. But while he was studying abroad, he got to go to 19 other countries in those areas.

Mike: Wow.

Tom: So he really got this passion for travel, which is part of our foundation we'll talk about a bit later.

Tom: You know, he always talked about his travel and when he came back, he graduated the, in the height of COVID. May of 2020. You know, he, He also enrolled in a program called Venture for America, which puts you in a basically with a startup company.

Tom: And the startup company that hired Jack was called Hex Corporation, which was based out of Baltimore, Maryland. And the first, you know, a lot of people hated COVID. And during our talks that we have with people about Fentanyl awareness, we talk about COVID because we loved COVID because we had Jack Home.

Mike: Mmm.

Tom: A full year working remotely. And then in August of '21, it was time for him to move to Baltimore. Where he had to work, you know, at his job because COVID was dissipating by then. And then he you know, packed up a U-Haul. We sent him on his way. He was there for roughly a month and a half.

Tom: We visited him in Labor Day weekend. His younger brother Tyler, also enrolled in Venture for America and got a job in Philadelphia. So Baltimore and Philadelphia being so close to each other it, it was easy for us to get up to see both of 'em. So we spent a day in Philadelphia with Tyler and then drove down to Baltimore to see Jack and his new apartment and Labor Day weekend.

Tom: That was the last time we saw Jack alive. So about two and a half weeks later, two weeks later we got a call from one of Jack's friends who we met up in Baltimore, who also went to the University of South Carolina with Jack. His name was Aaron. And then Jack had another friend, Chris, also from the University of South Carolina that was with Jack the Night, and both Chris and Jack died.

Tom: One of them had found some cocaine and they tried it and it was laced with Fentanyl, and unfortunately it killed both of them.

Mike: Wow.

Mike: Stephanie, you had no idea. Right.

Stephanie: Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, I kinda wanna backtrack a little bit though, cuz Tom, you know when you said, well, tell me about Jack.

Stephanie: I think another thing to know about Jack besides, you know, he was smart and athletic and all that stuff, he was very unassuming. So he has the best friend group ever and they've stuck together since grade school. Moved on to their high school, added kids, moved on to college, added more kids, and Tom and I literally have found out more about him after the fact, unfortunately.

Mike: Yeah.

Stephanie: But he just was one of those kids that people liked because he just hung back. He soaked it all in. He wasn't a look at me type kid or you know, raising his hand nonstop. It was just kind of like even keeled and I honestly didn't even know he was smart till the principal pulled me into the office one time, like when he was in fifth grade.

Stephanie: I was like, really? Because he just was very quiet. And I, I taught at the school and had no idea. He was a smart kid. So he was just a great, like, like I said, he just was well liked. So yes, I got the phone call and I was to work at our church festival. And was really blindsided by it. And I think that's part of our mission too, is because this isn't about, you know, there's many foundations that do addiction and recovery and mental health and suicide, which I think it all goes hand in hand with the problems we're seeing in the United States right now.

Stephanie: But we were really focusing on the one-off social use that we had no idea was so prevalent right now. And honestly, I think every family in our community that we're friends with and non-friends with, every single parent said that their kids have tried recreational drugs. At age, I'd say, you know, college, but even beyond college now, I didn't realize it was so prevalent in the working world.

Stephanie: Office parties, bachelor parties, every night out. It's not something that they're shocked over. Right. And so I think it really hit everybody hard that it was Jack because you have a kid like that who's just it could have been anyone, I guess. And Jack's friends were very upset about that because he went back with Chris that night and they had all been looking out for Chris.

Stephanie: And they said they just, yeah. Why Jack? Like, like they said, could have been any of 'em. And so that was what was really hard for me. The stomach was like, what were you thinking? You know what, why? You know, and at first I thought, or Tom and I, do we not know something? And then the more we spoke to the friends, they're like, Mrs. Quehl, you know, Jack didn't buy it, Jack didn't do this. The international people came to the funeral and our friends from the program, and they're like, Mrs. Quehl, we were with him for three years. We promise you. This was not a habit that he had. And I was like, okay. You know, cuz Tom and I are trying to piece this all together and obviously both he and Chris died.

Stephanie: So the night is still a mystery and it drives me crazy as a mom. But we won't know what the decision was or why they did this or, you know, I truly believe, you know, alcohol is a factor. And I think that's another thing. We have to preach these kids that you think you're invincible and when you make decisions when drinking alcohol, they're not always the best decisions.

Stephanie: So yeah, we, we feel like there's many of Jacks out in the United States and these kids that just think, not me or the parents that think, not my kid or this will never happen in our community. And we've had so many people reach out to us that. Have stories they just aren't telling them.

Mike: Well, and you, you know, you, you alluded to it, Fentanyl is in everything it seems like, and I, I, you know, I really respect it and like the fact that you all are calling it what it is, which is Fentanyl poisoning.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm.

Stephanie: Well, and we, honestly, when we spoke to, we spoke to about four to 500 kids in May. And it was great. They would raise their hands or we had like a Google a, you know, a exit interview with these kids and they were like, make sure you talk about the street cartridges and vaping. Make sure you talk about the marijuana.

Stephanie: A kid raised his hand and said, my cousin just died smoking marijuana. And we were like, thank you for saying that, cuz they think, oh, it's not in this and it's not in that. And it literally is in anything off the street. Everything. It's been found in everything now and it's just very scary to me.

Mike: Yeah.

Mike: Well, and Tom, that's part of your foundation's work, right? What, what are you all doing with the foundation and what have you found?

Tom: Yeah. So let, let me just backtrack a little bit on how the foundation started. So obviously when you lose someone you love that closely, and he was the apple of our eye.

Tom: You know, we are lucky we have three other sons, but losing that, you, you, you have the state of shock in the beginning, Mike. So, so for the first 10 days, you know, everybody's coming over and comforting you. And then you have the funeral and then everybody goes away. They have to go back to their schools or work.

Tom: And that's, and, and to be honest with you, I became pretty much a recluse for a couple weeks. I didn't want to eat, didn't want to, you know, all they wanna do is lay in bed. And then Stephanie one day said that, "Hey, we, we need to get outta this funk. We need to start something where we can talk to children in our nation's youth and their parents about the dangers of Fentanyl, so no one will lose their Jack."

Tom: And that's how the foundation started. And really, and Stephanie was the driving force behind all that. So what we did is, you know, I gradually jumped on board and then became full on board. And we both have retired now and focused solely on this. And you know, our goal is to basically speak to as many people as we can about things we never knew about.

Tom: You know, we didn't, you know, I knew, I knew the word Fentanyl. I thought Fentanyl was prevalent in people that were strongly addicted. I didn't even know it was in Cocaine. That's how, you know, dumb I was, I guess is the best way to put it. And I think there are other parents out there that don't realize how Fentanyl has pretty much seeped into everything out there, from illicit drugs to counterfeit pills, to, you name it, it's probably in there.

Tom: And what we do is when we talk to the parents and the nation's youth is we tell them that, you know, really. The Fentanyl's there, the, the people that are providing the Fentanyl, they don't want to kill you. They just don't know how to make it properly. And when they're putting it in this stuff, they, all they wanna do is make you become more addicted.

Mike: Mm-hmm.

Tom: So you become a regular customer and even though you don't even think you're taking Fentanyl, there's the strong addictiveness of Fentanyl will basically suck you in and then you will become addicted.

Mike: Well, and you started something, Stephanie, through your foundation called Beyond the Boundaries Scholarship, right for.

Stephanie: Yes. Yes. So part of it was education and then we also wanted to establish something in Jack's name that would go on forever. And so this one is Endowed at Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Stephanie: That's just where he went. And the boys, Tyler went there. Adam is just finished his freshman year there and so we felt a strong tie. But their senior year they took a trip abroad and that's what launched this whole, I don't know if Tom said earlier, I think he went to 17 countries in three years.

Stephanie: It's something insane. So our goal though, I was telling Tom is. To get something established where anyone can apply. Like, you know, we need to get out broader than what we're doing here. With, with the private schools in Cincinnati, like I said and reach beyond those walls. So yeah, that's where that scholarship came from and it will give students the availability and the money to take the trips through the high school service trips or anything we just said.

Stephanie: We wanted it to be out of the country so that they could have these experiences.

Mike: Excellent.

Tom: So the first one I, as Stephanie mentioned, is tied to Archbishop Moeller. We actually would like to set a second one up that's open to anyone, public or private, that needs financial backing to do a study abroad program because the high schools are now really getting into this.

Tom: Study abroad, which we think is a great thing, and it was a passion for Jack, so we'd love to see that carry on for folks that, you know, can't afford to go on a trip that's sponsored by a school.

Stephanie: Well, and I, and Tom told you I taught at St. Columbia for 18 years where, where the kids went. And we've provided scholarships for their eighth grade, the last two years too, for those kids to go on and do something.

Stephanie: But as a teacher, I realized that kids learn in different ways and I, you know, beyond the walls. That's where the beyond of the classroom, you know, you can learn so much by visiting other cultures, languages, countries, and just opening your eyes to the world. So that was another big thing, is that, you know, you learn differently, and I think that's huge to experience that.

Mike: Well, and you also started something this, this podcast is airing on June 14th and so tonight, right?

Stephanie: Oh!

Mike: Tonight kicks off your, your weekend.

Stephanie: Yes.

Mike: Good for Jack Fentanyl Awareness Weekend.

Stephanie: Yes.

Mike: Talk about that. What is that?

Stephanie: Oh my gosh. Well last year was just a one one day party. Thanking everybody for supporting us, cuz our community in Loveland, Ohio is amazing.

Stephanie: So I, I don't know why I decided that. Okay, let's. Let's make this bigger and you're catching me a couple weeks out right now. So I, our it's a great town and I just went to all the businesses and I said, Hey, you know, and they were all in. I think that made me feel like we are doing the right thing because the community knows this is a problem.

Stephanie: They don't really know what to do about it or how to go about it, and. Literally, I think we have eight restaurants and say six shops or whatever. They were all in in two seconds. So yes. The 5K was through our running store and they spotlighted nonprofits, so that's gonna be on that Wednesday. And then, you know, Thursday we had a Dine to Donate at a nicer restaurant.

Stephanie: Tano here in Loveland. And then I teach yoga, so my yoga studio's then gonna do Yoga By the River. We have the little Miami River that runs through our town outside at another place. So we're trying to involve the community and make it a community event versus just a party. And then we have a party and then there's, you know, the kids go, the kids go on to all the other places.

Stephanie: And then today it was very exciting. They put a banner up for us of a banner with the foundation saying Fentanyl Awareness. And just to, honestly, that is our biggest thing is to raise awareness.

Mike: Well, and obviously you all know who listened to this. We're gonna put a link to the both the foundation and how you can help at the bottom of this podcast.

Mike: And if you're listening and it is Wednesday and you wanna run, that run is tonight, right?

Stephanie: [laugh]

Mike: Wednesday?

Tom: Yeah.

Mike: Wednesday night. So if you're around, if you're around Cincinnati or Loveland, get off your butt.

Stephanie: Yes.

Mike: And go and run 5k.

Stephanie: That's right. You can walk. You can crawl. Heck, you can hang out and talk with me.

Mike: You know Tom, Stephanie alluded to this a little bit about the community being so supportive, and I did wanna ask you guys this. Oftentimes the people who make decisions don't get a lot. It seems like they don't get a lot done, but folks like you, parents and community groups can get a ton done.

Mike: What have you found as far as, you know, getting stuff done around raising the awareness of this problem?

Tom: Yeah, so actually, you know, when you publicize, you know, what we went through. You find people through different social media that also have lost a loved one to Fentanyl poisoning.

Tom: And one of our, now he's a really good friend of ours. His name's Mark Murphy. He lost his daughter in 2020, I believe. She took what she thought was a Xanax and was laced with Fentanyl. And he is actually involved with politics. So he got us into a couple dinners where we've met some different politicians and we've kind of raised our hand up and said, "Hey, we need you guys to start pushing this more" and, and battle it from a political front.

Tom: You know, our front is about raising awareness. So, and I, I know it's a cliched term, but it's a just say no as opposed to trying to fight the Fentanyl being into our country because we can't do anything.

Stephanie: It's not stopping.

Tom: We can't. And Mark Murphy, who I mentioned, he's big on that side.

Tom: He is. He is a really good friend of ours, and he's fighting with the politicians to make this in the forefront because it's the largest killer in our nation from ages 18 to 50. So think about that. You don't really see much about it, but if you doubled the amount of gun deaths, you would reach the level of overdoses related to Fentanyl.

Mike: That's saying, I think you, you all may have bumped into somebody else we've had on the program here, which is the Rockwells, and you know, in, in a year Erin and her husband through their foundation got Narcan in every single college in the state of Wisconsin.

Tom: Yeah.

Mike: From zero. From zero.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm.

Mike: You know, right alongside the defibrillator paddles.

Mike: You do a ton.

Stephanie: You know what? That's so interesting because I us working in the high schools and I was subbing, I was like, this needs to be in every high school now. Cause I think that's where we've gotten to with the six outta 10 pills being laced. It scares me to death that.

Stephanie: You know, being a teacher, what are you gonna do if somebody pops something in the parking lot and then shows up to class? You know?

Mike: Yep.

Stephanie: So I just, that's amazing what the Rockwells did, and it needs to trickle down. Yeah, I think we're up to 200 deaths a day and I'm like, this is insanity at its best right now.

Stephanie: So we just, like I said, we have got to education, like Tom said, just say no. I just saw another foundation's tagline was just say no, but pay N O W. It's knowledge I like. That is brilliant to just, you need to educate. We've even talked to fifth graders, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, you name it.

Stephanie: A first. We are starting here. Parents are soaking it up. Everybody wants to know, you know, more and more.

Mike: You know, it's funny you should say that, Stephanie, I work a lot in schools and I was doing a presentation at a school in May, and none of the administrators were there, which is a little unusual. Although they came in the second half of the day, where they were in the morning, was doing a Narcan administration training.

Mike: That that district is doing for, and so they are gonna get it in all their schools because just as you said, that's what they're afraid of.

Mike: I have to ask you before we get into a couple other things. One of the things I was reading about Jack was. So he went to Moeller, which is no small accomplishment, that's an athletic high school.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm hmm.

Mike: Then he goes to South Carolina. He's living in Baltimore. How does he become an Arkansas Razorback fan?

Stephanie: [laugh] So, oh my gosh. That was when he was like, what, honey? Five or six?

Tom: Yeah, I'm an Ohio State fan and he hated Ohio State [laugh].

Mike: Well, don't we all, don't we all that don't live there, Tom?

Tom: [laugh] So his two favorite teams you know, and obviously the Cincinnati Bengals have done well recently, but, it was the Arkansas Razorbacks from a college level.

Tom: And I can't tell you where he came...

Stephanie: Why? I think it was the pig. Yeah, I think it was the pig.

Tom: Yeah.

Tom: But he also, he was an avid Tampa Bay Buccaneer fan.

Mike: Yeah.

Tom: And he, and that came from we took 'em to the, the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie. And...

Stephanie: Five or six same age, ya.

Tom: And, and when I say passionate, like he, if, if the Tampa Bay Buccs were on, we had to make sure it was on over any other thing we had in our, in our house.

Mike: That's great.

Stephanie: Yeah.

Tom: That's, yeah. He just had a passion for both those schools.

Stephanie: You know what, and I have to add when, when Tom Brady joined them and they were one of the, well, he, he called me and I had to take pictures of my scrapbook to prove he was a fan since five years old or whatever. To send to his fraternity brothers.

Stephanie: I was like, oh Lord. So, yeah, no idea. That's, but that's his mind. He never was like, it was always outside the box of anything. He always went against the grain, for sure.

Mike: That's great. Well, I, and you do, you mentioned earlier you have three younger sons, so I have to ask how you, how they. That has to be hard for them.

Mike: How are they coping?

Tom: Yeah. So, I was married before, so Eric is older than Jack. Yeah, he's, and then Tyler, you're behind Jack. And then Adam is going to his sophomore year in high school. And it was definitely really tough on them because. We were all very close as a family.

Tom: And you know, we had Eric got married about a year later after Jack's death, and he had a toast at his wedding and he choked up about it. And, you know, it's, it's tough. And Tyler, you know, we talk about it regularly and, and it, it's still tough on Tyler and. And, and especially Adam too, you know we, so we spent basically two weeks at Moeller talking to small breakout classes.

Tom: And Adam's at Moeller at the same time. And it's, I know it was really tough on him because he didn't wanna have that stigma of...

Mike: Right.

Tom: You know, you know, kind of a, you know, he didn't want anybody feeling sorry for him. And the kids were very good about embracing that cuz we actually talked to them when, when Adam's not in that class and, and said, look, don't treat Adam any differently.

Tom: You know, he's one of you guys. Just consider it that way. But yeah, from a family standpoint, all the brothers took it tough.

Stephanie: I think too, like for me, I tell my friends and I think Adam being here in me, there is nine and 11 years difference between Tyler and Jack and Adam and I think Jack was gone so much cuz he went four years South Carolina and went travel abroad.

Stephanie: We saw him like what, two or three times a year. And I think it's one of those things that we're lucky in a way that he, I don't expect him to run down the steps every morning because he had been not been home.

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Stephanie: Besides the COVID year. Where you're expecting that person to come through the door every day.

Stephanie: And it's not funny, but Tom was right, Jack left and then Tyler left within six weeks. And I said to those boys, I was like, take what you want. Because I had not painted the room since they were like six years old. And so mama came through and just cleaned it out. I repainted everything. And is it bad or good?

Stephanie: I don't know, but I don't have that childhood room I have to stare at. You know what I mean?

Mike: Yeah.

Stephanie: It makes it easier. But it was just so funny. We were so like, good riddance boys, time to go. And then if we could just take it back, you know, we would. But you know, I think with Adam, he's just gonna be, I just think, God, we gotta get him through four years of high school.

Stephanie: This stuff is just starting, you know? So yeah, I think day by day we just kind of, this gives us a reason. People like you reaching out to us, tells us we're doing something for the good and gives us another reason to keep going and to get outta bed every day.

Mike: Well, I, alright then you just let me into that.

Mike: Cause I always ask this, and I think I know part of your answer, Stephanie, but you know, it's important that you not be that person who just spends time on the bed and doesn't want to get up. So what do the two of you do to take care of yourselves so that this doesn't become all consuming and bring you down?

Tom: So talking like this is actually cathartic to, to me at least. It, it, it is. Knowing in the back of your mind that even if we don't know this person that got our message, but we might have saved his or her life somehow, it, it, it kind of mends the hole in your heart, I guess is the best way to put it.

Stephanie: Well, well, we get up every day and work out. I mean, he's like, what do we do? Like.

Tom: So workout and golf, Mike, that's what we do.

Stephanie: [laugh]

Tom: No, and and we're not good. We're not good at either one.

Stephanie: We're not good.

Stephanie: No, but I, that's true. But as someone, another parent said the same thing to me, and it made me feel so good.

Stephanie: We literally lay down or take a nap every day because your brain just keeps rolling over and over again. Like you can't stop thinking about everything. So we try to just, every day you just gotta take some time. And even it's just quiet for 30 minutes to regroup because you, like I said, it would consume you constantly.

Stephanie: But yeah, I think just keeping our mental health together and doing, like we said, the exercise and moving. I went back to work last year. I taught school, like I told you, fifth grade. I just thought it wasn't fair not to return after September and Adam was at the grade school and he said, if I have to go to school, why don't you?

Stephanie: And I'm like, good point.

Mike: [laugh]

Tom: Yeah.

Stephanie: And so I don't know how I did it. I look back like, how did I work a year, like and do lessons and be with these kids and see what we're doing now. But the foundation definitely is consuming.

Mike: Yeah.

Mike: Do you do yoga with your wife Tom?

Tom: I used to do hot yoga a lot and then I...

Mike: Hot yoga!

Tom: Yeah. And yeah, I mean, when I say hot, it's like 106 degrees in there.

Mike: [laugh]

Tom: Then, you know, and I, I need to get back to do that, Mike. I I, I do, I do enough, but I, it's actually, that is a great experience too.

Mike: Yeah, I have people that want me to get into that, and I'm like, only if you rent a crane to get me off the floor.

Mike: Oh. Cause I'm not sure I could get back up if I get down in some of those spots.

Stephanie: Yeah. I taught it to the volleyball program this spring, and the moaning and the groaning of the high schoolers was the best ever and they they didn't wanna get up. It was great.

Mike: Oh, that's great. Well, let me let you guys move on with your day, but I wanna ask you to send us off with a, a little, what can people do to help?

Mike: I know you have all of these things in the fire and we'll put links to 'em. Well, what can people do to help?

Stephanie: Well, I'll start honey. I think two things, obviously yes. To support our foundation, but what I love more than anything is, and I know your podcast is national. Like we love when people wear our "Do It For Jack" shirts and post, I dunno if you saw any of that around the world in the country.

Mike: Yeah.

Stephanie: Spreading the awareness. So Tom can tell you where "Do It For Jack" came from, first of all cuz that's part of our message, but is really passing our name along, reaching out to us. Telling us your story that we could help pass on. You know, we're trying to compile as much as we can. Information obviously is the best.

Stephanie: My big dream, and we're in the works, is to create our own documentary because Tom and I, yeah. So we're trying to, that's in the talks right now because we can't possibly speak for years on end to all these people. Like people are, you know, everyone in this area wants to come in and talk, come in and talk and so that's my biggest goal is to get that made so that other people can speak on our behalf, hit play and then, you know, go on with statistics and whatever else you need to talk about in a talk. But Tom can tell you about the do it for Jack and where that came from and why it means so much to us. And babe, tell about the logo too.

Tom: Sure. And just to echo what Stephanie is saying, so we're. We've already funded a scholarship that came directly from the foundation. We're, we're looking for some from funding to get this documentary off the ground because it's not cheap to do, you know? And, and we've got a goal set in mind and, and we finally get enough financial backing for that.

Tom: We're gonna build a documentary about Jack's life tied into Fentanyl awareness. And there's some good ones out there, but we'd like to make one ourselves because Stephanie said, you know, we can't. Can't talk to everyone in the nation or the world, but getting a documentary out will definitely get the message out and help spread awareness.

Tom: So where "Do It For Jack" came from is at the funeral. I got up and spoke and I, I said to everyone, you know, I said a few things before that, but I said, you know, there was this elephant in the room.

Mike: Yeah.

Tom: That everyone knew how Jack died, but no one, you know, wanted to talk about it. So I said, you know, we know how Jack died and we know you know how Jack died.

Tom: If you find yourself in a position where you need to make a choice, make the right choice. make the good choice, make the lifesaving choice. And if you can't make that choice on your own, make that choice for Jack. "Do It For Jack". So that's where it came from.

Mike: Wow.

Stephanie: Yeah.

Tom: And it, it, we have a logo. If you go to our site, you'll see it says do it for Jack, and then it's the sunrise above it.

Tom: Jack's cousin, Andrew Homer, who played football for Miami University, they were best friends. They were the same age. Jack had a picture of a sunrise, I think when he was either in Singapore or Brazil.

Stephanie: Brazil. It was Brazil. Yeah.

Tom: Brazil. And he wanted, Andrew had got a tattoo kit, so they decided to put the sunrise tattoo on Jack's leg.

Tom: It's just a little small tattoo. And we, we put that into the "Do It For Jack" logo. So we actually have friends, cousins, uncles and aunts that have gotten the tattoo.

Mike: Wow.

Tom: Stephanie and I have not got the tattoo yet. I don't know if I'm a tattoo guy, but it, it is just really cool that it's just a, it is a good symbol for two things to remember, Jack, and also to raise Fentanyl awareness.

Stephanie: Well in the lines of the tattoo are imperfect. If you saw that. And I think I tell the people we speak to, Jack was not perfect. We are not perfect. And so having that imperfectness of the tattoo, you know, kind of speaks volumes of, you know, back to making one mistake, one bad decision and it can cost you your life.

Stephanie: There's no more of I'm gonna try this anymore. They, they, kids just, adults cannot do that anymore, but.

Mike: Excellent.

Stephanie: We're trying to preach that.

Mike: Well, and you're doing a fantastic job. I mean, I heard of you and I'm in several states away.

Stephanie: I love it! That made my day! Yeah. That made my day. That was, well, Tracy, who you reach out to, she's on our board and she's a writer and we're so lucky to have her because she's a non-fiction writer.

Stephanie: She does our research and makes sure that our statistics are up to date and all the things. I, I don't like reading about it cuz it just depresses me. So she's, she's been huge to our foundation.

Tom: And I know we're getting close to the end of our time. Mike, and I appreciate you reaching out to us, but I, I, I gotta finish with this because we would not be anywhere without our foundation board members.

Mike: Mm-hmm.

Tom: They work for free. You know, Stephanie mentioned Tracy. Stephanie's sister, Jen, and our brother-in-law, John Homer are involved. Carol Rouillard, who's our neighbor, is heavily involved. Dave Germano, who's our brother-in-law, is involved. He's a marketing guy and has really helped Kelly Tarantino designed the website.

Tom: She's an old friend of ours. And then Angie Geier, who's also a friend of ours, is heavily involved. So it, it, it's great to have these folks who spend, who work full-time and then spend two or three hours a night working with us to get this done.

Mike: Amazing.

Stephanie: And we're always of course like, can I have this now? [laugh]

Tom: Yes.

Stephanie: Can you design this artwork immediately? You know, they've been amazing and integral to all this for sure.

Mike: Well, good luck with the weekend coming up.

Stephanie: Thank you.

Tom: Yeah.

Mike: And, and thank you for joining us and for those of you who are listening this is another example of a, a sad story where people take that and turn it into hope and optimism for the rest of us.

Mike: So we encourage you to listen in next time. And until then, please stay safe. And I think the Quehls would say this, do it for Jack and do it for your kids. And do it for yourself.