Grieving mom gets surprise support (Marine Galvez's Family)

The Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 9/23/2006 | Mattew LaPlant

[frankenMonkey]

Amy Galvez was amazed by the love and support she found - sometimes from total strangers - after learning her son, Adam, had been killed in Iraq.

But it was the patients of the Salt Lake City nurse who gave her the biggest surprise, one that still overwhelms her sense of human grace.

The inconspicuous central city office where Galvez works is the daily destination for hundreds of drug addicts battling opiate addiction. While fighting their own battles - many with the help of methadone, which treats the withdrawal symptoms of heroin, morphine and other drugs - Galvez's patients also were keenly interested in the battles being fought by her Marine son in Iraq's Al Anbar Province.

"Most of them found out about Adam's death on television," said Kelly Morgan, clinical coordinator at the Discovery House clinic. "And everyone wanted to know what they could do."

Within days, the patients - many without any prompting at all - began bringing in food, toiletries and other items to fill a large box Galvez had set up, weeks before her son was killed, on behalf of a company of Marines in the 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, a unit of 22 troops stationed near Ramadi.

[frankenMonkey]

Seems like support for our Armed Forces can be found everywhere...!

[SuzyQue]

Good post. A bit of grace.

[leadpenny]

RIP, Adam.

[Mygirlsmom]

Great story. I forwarded it to MGD.

A few years back what started out as our family trying to help one of our daughter's friends ended up as a year-long experience with people and places that I never knew existed. She ended up living with us for nearly a year, while her mother, who had lost her drivers' license due to accidents caused by her drug use, called upon us for rides to the methadone treatment center. Never went in the place, but as I waited, I was astounded by the number of people going in and out with their little boxes.