After the death of Danny, his brother Phil promised to help other families devastated by these horrible tragedies. Phil's promise has become a reality.
Danny was a bright, fun loving spirit, who was always happy growing up. He loved nature, hiking, fishing, boats, skateboarding, rock music, video games and so much more. Danny played guitar and drums, inspired by his love of rock and heavy metal. As a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees, Danny excelled in sports as a child and had a room full of trophies for baseball and football. As he got older, he started working at the family seafood business, where he also excelled.
One day however, he turned down a dark path of drug abuse that is unfortunately becoming more and more common in the United States. Gone was that happy spirit and instead, left in its place was a somber, almost zombie like person. Danny battled these dark demons, struggling with addiction for nearly a decade, before finally getting help and realizing sobriety.
Enjoying his new found love for life, the drab, dreary person was gone and smiles soon returned. He was sober for over a year and a half, once again excelling at the family business and doing great. Mending relationships and moving forward with his life, things were good. Then one tragic day without warning or provocation, he relapsed and overdosed on Fentanyl. On that horrific day the world lost another kind spirit that was gone before their time. What I would not give to play one more video game with him and laugh for hours.
I remember catching tadpoles with him and taking them home to turn into frogs. However, his tadpole died and never got a chance to flourish as an adult frog. Just like the tadpole, Danny died too soon and never got a chance to flourish as an adult. I think about that analogy a lot and just as Danny would cry over that tadpole, I continue to cry for him.
Danny’s death has been extremely devastating and painful for me and my family. Having just lost our mother a couple years prior, compounds that pain. I can imagine that the hurt will continue and never go away. Lying awake through endless sleepless nights, struggling to make sense of what had happened, I scoured the internet.
What I found during months of research was startling:
1. Last year there were over 100,000 drug overdoses in the United States. Just as there were no nonprofit organizations that help with funeral expenses for drug overdose victims, similarly there was no organization that helps pay for mental health therapy. With no local or national foundation, who would help others afflicted by these tragedies?
2. There were many nonprofit organizations focused on drug prevention, treatment and recovery. However, not one organization existed to help families with funeral expenses in the aftermath of losing a loved one to a drug overdose. Many families need help with funeral costs especially in such an unexpected situation.
Unsettled by this information, and inspired by the love for my brother, I made a promise to help others afflicted by these tragedies. Before Their Time was founded on a promise made that fateful day.
I believe that Danny would approve. I am also sure that had he still been here with us, that he would have loved to help be a part of it. For now, rest in peace little brother. Until we meet again just know that I will do whatever I can to make this world a better place in your memory.
- Philip S. Tremble Jr
Our nonprofit's logo is very special to us. It was inspired by various things including: loss, love, and family. We would like to share with you the meaning of our logo design.
Over 100,000 people died in 2021 from drug overdoses in the United States.
