A quiet residential neighborhood of Fullerton is getting an unusually large number of visitors for the second Christmas in a row. Mothers and fathers are stopping by at a community Christmas tree set up on Roosevelt Avenue lined with houses colorfully decorated for Christmas.
The visitors may be from all different walks of life, but they have one thing in common: They have lost a child to opioids.
"We're sadly in a club that we never asked to be part of," explained Adrienne Arellano, whose daughter Addilyne died from an opioid overdose at age 28 on Father's Day, as she placed an ornament made with her daughter's picture on the Christmas tree and blew a kiss while swallowing her tears.
Celebrating Christmas just months after Addilyne's death seemed unthinkable to Arellano until she learned about the memorial Christmas tree dedicated to those who died from fentanyl poisoning.
Get Southern California news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC LA newsletters.
"I couldn't celebrate Thanksgiving," Arellano recalls. "I didn't want to do Christmas, but this is a beautiful way to honor our children."
The 6-foot Christmas tree has nearly 100 pictures of young people whose lives were cut short by opioids. They all have different stories: some parents had known about their child's addiction struggles while others felt their son or daughter's overdose death came out of nowhere.
"At the time [of my son's death,] I was naïve to it. I was like, 'It's not going to happen to my son,'" said Ricky Quintero, whose son, Jacob, died at the age of 19. "It's not just in the hood or barrios. Opioid overdoses are happening all over cities, all over states. This tree is giving us awareness on how to deal with this unfortunate situation. "
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
Raising awareness surrounding the devastating impacts of opioids is one of the reasons Andree Scanlon set up the community memorial Christmas tree. After her middle child, Stephen, died in March 2022, Scanlon realized parents like herself needed a safe space to grieve.
"A lot of parents are grieving in silence," Scanlon said. "There's the stigma and shame about losing someone to fentanyl poisoning."
Judy Perez, who lost her son, Nicholas, just a few month after the death of Scanlon's son, said misconceptions about opioid deaths add more pain to her broken heart.
"'Oh, they're some dirty drug users.' It's not like that at all," Perez said. "Something like this [tree] is important because it's normal people this is happening to. It's good to remember what your kids were about. They are not all about drugs."
The parents at Scanlon's memorial Christmas tree said talking about their late child and talking to others about their experience help with their grieving process.
Scanlon said she hopes her special Christmas tree would serve the purpose of bringing people together and help parents grieve in peace and support.
"I say my son's name everyday. It's important to continue to honor," Scanlon said.
If anyone is interested in memorializing his or her own family member lost to opioids, email Andree Scanlon at aces571@gmail.com.
Do you have a Bright Spot like this? Share your Bright Spot with us!
Today in LA’s Lynette Romero wants to hear from you! You can message her on Facebook and Instagram. You can also email her at lynette.romero@nbcuni.com. We’ll share your story on Today in LA and our website to further spread your bright spot!
