Ultimately a story of the power of love.

Barbara Conroy brings to light her son Jack’s legacy in her novel “Dear Jack” a love letter. A legacy of relentless love, tireless devotion and new awareness’ that were hard fought by a mother and her teen age son.
The reader is given a window into the life of the Conroy family. An idyllic family in a beach side setting was the backdrop of she and Jack’s life.
The innocence and goodness that describe Jack as a child through his mother’s eyes make clear there is no defect of character that lead to his becoming an addict. It is not a choice.

As they navigate recovery centers and treatments for Jack’s rapidly progressing disease of addiction, Barbara is stunned by the power of the darkness that accompanies active addiction. Brutality and broken lives are its reality.

In her desperate struggle to seek the answers, Barbara realizes that only love and truth can dispel darkness.
She begins to see that addiction is a symptom, not a cause. Her seeking leads her to realize the addict should not be criminalized but seen as a human being suffering on some deep level.
In the end, her purpose is revealed as she begins sharing what her experiences in trying to save her son, and then in grappling to find answers after his passing, have revealed to her about her son’s battle with addiction.
With the deepest reverence, Barbara Conroy shares relevant and most timely information for all. Not just those who are living in the shadows of addiction themselves or with a loved one, but for society as a whole. A generation is being lost to opiate overdoses in our country. Barbara shares the information she learned through her experiences trying to understand a disease that baffles even those who have it. Experiences forged by fire, resulting in wisdom inspired by love.

Amazing. That thing called grace.