Brian David Stock (7/30/1986 – 5/1/2023)
We met during a time in my life when I was unaware of how to properly deal with mental health issues. Teenage years can already be so hard and chaotic, especially for over emotional girls whom feel every single emotion to the highest degree! I remember sitting in class, at the alternative highschool I was at, since I had already caused trouble for myself and family in regular public schooling system. Suddenly, a note comes flying over my shoulder into my desk. It simply said, “you should smile.”…. That was it. Around age 14/15, Brian D. Stock and I became, from then on, inseparable! First as best friends….later as crushes developed, as highschool sweethearts. Enjoying things like our first and only attended prom together, many nights sneaking out as teens do, just to run amok with other friends on our skateboards and bmx bikes, to enjoying every single day at school in the same classes together. He even moved into my childhood home, so we grew up together from 15 years on. He was my confidante, my keeper, my joker, my muse, my motivation for everything. We did have a small stint, shortly after highschool where we broke up. Later, we deemed this ok, as we were just kids in serious “puppy love” at first. We reunited in young adulthood. Each of us having already had one child, early, with others. (This never mattered, they are all OUR children, this is how we always seen it. To this day, whether it’s my oldest son, who deeply befriended Brian and called him “daddy Brian, or his oldest daughter, who has honored me by asking if she can call me mom and still still considers me in this way to this day and I answer to her when she reaches out, as such. Or our youngest, who unfortunately, is a different kind of victim to the throws of active addiction. Not only did she lose a parent, her dad, to over dose. She unfortunately didn’t even know who we were to her, until his memorial….. That’s when she learned he was her dad and I am her mother ….)
So as you have read, active addiction unfortunately became apart of our lives. We obviously never chose or wanted it. We never imagined when we were young we would grow up to be junkies. Or end up homeless, having lost our life dreams that we had already begun to achieve, the job, the apartment, the children, the cars, the proper, righteous and amazing life everyone deserves and strives for…. Ripped from our grasp due to being 2 more souls who battle the disease addiction….. Active addiction was some of the worst times of Brian’s and my life….
However, for the sake of remembrance, I am going to steer away from all that, as it is obvious and been made inherently clear.
So, I will say, regardless, whether in active addiction, or working recovery and actively sober…. I am no the only one who has endless amounts of great memories of Brian D. Stock,!!
He was just the most amazing, funniest, silliest, goofy, most creative, talented beyond measure (*no exaggerating here, he honestly, and literally, could pick up anything for the first time, be it an instrument that he has never touched before, can suddenly play by ear, or seeing urban art, so picking up a paint marker or spray paint can, and being able to tag as beautifully and boldly as artists that have dedicated their lives to the art, or grabbing a pen and writing the most sincere,and moving lyrics or poems, as well as being so properly well written, when it called for it, showing off and impeccable vernacular, with grammar that only a linguist could truly appreciate!! There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do…it was mind blowing to everyone who ever met or knew him*) Brian, when entering a room, captivated people without trying. Whether being drawn to his hilarious antics, that could brighten anyone’s day and bring even the most serious person to bouts of laughter. Or his ability to lead and push forward under pressure and stressful situations. To his being there for his brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, even his extended family like cousins and aunts who miss him everyday, to this day, and of course always having been there for me.
He is missed by the world in my truest and most honest opinion. The talent he had, speaks of having had the potential to be someone great, known and famous to the world, hands down…..but sadly, thanks to opioid addiction, me, his children, his family, his friends, and the entirety of the world was robbed of Brian, and everything he was and could have ever been to us.
Although, those of us that were blessed enough to have, at least, had the pleasure of having him for the short time he lived, we will forever know and recognize the gift we were given, forever be grateful for having been able to spend the time we had with him, and forever miss him more than anyone could ever know!
Brian David Stock, beloved son, brother, father, and best friend and first love! Now missed, taken far too soon by fentanyl overdose at age 37. May he always be cherished and remembered.