My daughter Staci died of a heroin overdose Nov 14, 2017 here in South Florida. She was 29, and always will be. I am devastated, angry, lost, and searching for a way to tell her story. Here, in this email, I will try to be succinct.
We are from Long Island, but moved to South Florida as a means to remove then 17 year old Staci from all her connections or triggers at home. Up until then, 3 psychiatrists, a psychiatric facility, a psych hold in a hospital, and a private rehab setting proved to be useless, and expensive. Staci was never prescribed opiates for pain, she was growing up beautifully in a middle class household, and had a background of tennis lessons, bat mitzvah parties, gymnastics, dive team, summer camp, and a cabana in Atlantic Beach for 15 years.
Once her addiction took hold, she went to detox multiple times, rehab more times than I can count, jail, and was Baker Acted here in Florida. She went to a methadone clinic, and was later on suboxone. She was misdiagnosed, un diagnosed, and rerouted to different facilities . No one ever helped her. Everyone loved her in rehab, in group homes, in psyc settings. She lied over and over and over and was cute and funny and silly, and no one reached her. She controlled herself a bit during her pregnancy, when she was 23, but her beautiful son Eli Gabriel died at the age of 3 from Tay Sachs disease. She was sad and sick and broken. She was angry and homeless, and tough loved and loved. She was sweet and athletic and bubbly. No one ever got to the root of the problem, if there was one. She was loud, and her story should be told, loudly. She talked to me almost daily, and now….it’s very quiet.
Story by Laurie Capone
2 replies on “Staci Capone”
This was one of my closets friends. I love you Staci and Eli you are forever missed. I will always remember what a great and almost too caring of a mother you were. I had my first son around the same time she had Eli and she was in good spirits. Staci was a beautiful person, like all of us she had her issues. She was just trying to find herself is this crazy world we live in. I do know that people took advantage of her. She sometimes had a hard time realizing people that were not good people and only cared for themselves. You will always be missed.
My life is hell…I survive hellscape every day…but I’ve been doing it since 16 years old…I remember when it was just me and Staci, at her place down from down off sunrise Blvd as was my place…I was actually pretty decent at the time…it was the most horrible thing to have to have the most undignified indignity that someone could possibly get at a time when i swear the child you see in those photos was my child…I was devastated that a let’s just say a internal weakness literally put me in immediate pain and unable to do just about anything and this was actually in the moment I can say i truly held Staci in my arms and her arms around me because im average male height but she’s only a tad bit shorter than I am we were physically a perfect fit. God we had the most beautiful moments and moment but I swear it a literal 15-20 seconds of God’s will stopped my body in it’s tracks for absolutely no reason never had a internal weakness Id never had a stitch broken broke or surgery it was the most unfortunate thing probably in my lost life ever…and I’m 38 now I think Staci was a half a year younger or so…but she was perfect…in every way…I’m from NJ so a shared northern state…but she was a statue… everything from her slightly stubby toes to her sculpted calves and skateboarder thighs she had upper body physique she was in no way weak…her face was and is a face I still see to have tears run and down my cheek. Once in a while I keyword her name…to only and I don’t know why to feel the misery of God and what His Will had become and what had became. For a long time I was saying it’s not right during my stupid injury my stupid switch flipped there I go comatose,. Not proud hardened and not proud and hardened by cocaine, crack and smack both pills prescribed and other white powders designed for cancer patients. I’ve been up and down for 20 years now but I still after what now? A decade? By myself? Not dead but 50-60 others are…I was dead before I started doing drugs but that’s a different story…God help me I know Staci would be there for me…it kills me I can’t keep killing myself its just so fucking hard to look at this beautiful and she may not have ever really excelled beyond just a girl but she was the girl whos fingers interlocked with mine me I’m a boy I’m still the same boy who with wet skin and loving sweet beautiful Staci like the woman I never had been with…God she was perfect i dont know why or how things go the way we go but i guess but i hope im simply not a destroyed bi product of the most beautiful girl in the world Staci Capone…( I Miss you Staci, God I ask of you please help me, Staci please help me I’m sorry, idk what happened idk how I wasn’t able to hold on and to love you more than anyone in the world and there’s nobody who deserved to be loved as much as you if you had a flaw you’d still be perfect…eccentric ☺️ God I miss…a bit of a fast talker 😊, objective. 🥰,. You got what you wanted too much…you were too charming little girl 😆🥰 God I hurt a lot thinking about , I did meet your mom for a half a second once I thought about her being grandma…she was supposed to so was my mom… Happenstance makes ABSOLUTELY no sense otherwise this submission never would have happened a matter of less than 10 seconds i stil cant belive Staci please…comfort me i hurt more than ever not just reminiscing of you but my life is nowhere i want it to be I love you Good Night