Community Corner

Ocean City Woman Writes Story of Heroin, 'Heartache and Hope'

Ann Taylor Laverty tells the story of her son's addiction and its effect on the family.

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Ann and Mike Laverty spent their childhood summers in Ocean City, met while working in neighboring stores on the Ocean City Boardwalk, married in 1979 and made good on a promise someday to return to Ocean City as permanent residents, which they did when they moved to the Ocean City Homes neighborhood at the southern end of the island in 2011.

They watched their son Matt grow from a 4-year-old with a California flattop haircut and "plaid blue shorts that came down past his knees" into a handsome 24-year-old college graduate (3.0 average) who loves dogs, mom's meals and is holding out for a job in the music industry.

But at the same time, they watched him grow into something else: a 24-year-old who "lies, steals, cheats, forges checks, helps himself to family members' credit cards, and disappears periodically for days at a time." An unkempt, underweight young man who "can't hold down a job and isn't very interested in looking for one."

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Their son Matt is a heroin addict.

The family's journey through addiction and recovery is the subject of a new book by Ann Laverty, "Unraveled: A Story of Heartache and Hope," published through the CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. It is available online at CreateSpace, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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"This book is for everyone: the addict, the parent, any relative or friend of an addict, anyone who wonders how a 'good kid from a good family' can become a drug addict," Laverty writes. "Its message is hope; the goal is for people to see that one can live through the heartache and look towards a positive future."

One goal is to let other parents in similar situations know that they're not alone.

Laverty, 57, said the book started as a journal, a way for her to cope with the emotions and frustrations of what her life had become. The narrative mixes happy memories of Matt's early days growing up in Little Silver, N.J., with blunt descriptions of where addiction led her son.

Matt is currently in recovery and living in Belmar, and Ann said she is at work on a second book about her ongoing experiences.

To purchase a copy of "Unraveled: A Story of Heartache and Hope," visit: 

Laverty said she is also working to get copies to bookstores in Ocean City.

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