DECEMBER 2019 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 41
THE BEADING HEARTS
HEALING GRIEVING SOULS THE
These mothers of children lost to addiction help each other grieve through beading.
BY EDEN LAIKIN AND PATRICK MCINTYRE
They call themselves The Beading
Hearts. Their mission is to heal
broken hearts, one bead at a time.
Together, the “angel moms” in this
unique bereavement group, having
lost a child to the disease of addiction,
work through unspeakable grief and
loss while learning to smile again
— together.
The group uses the love for their lost
children to help others who have
suffered similarly, part of the collateral
damage of the nation’s opioid
epidemic. They gather weekly, make
inspirational beads, and gift them to
those who have also lost a loved one.
“We heal as we talk, laugh, cry, hug,
and bead,” says Linda Nuszen, who
began The Beading Hearts program.
The group grew out of a nonprofit
foundation the Nuzsens created in
their son’s honor shortly after he
lost his battle with drug addiction
in November 2015. It’s called Look
Up for Adam. Nuszen said her son
used to remind the family to always
remember to Look Up — whether you
might be feeling down, missing someone
above, or wanting to feel like part
of something bigger than yourself.
Nuszen soon began making beads the
way her son did, giving them to close
friends. And so began The Beading
Hearts.
Meeting at different members’ houses
each week, they share their stories
and struggles — honoring angel
birthdays and angel-versaries of
their lost loved ones to bring healing
to the group as a whole. There are
laughs and plenty of tears.
They bring the beads to funerals
and wakes, giving them to new angel
moms so they know they’re not alone.
At fairs and other events, they perform
community outreach to share
their message, “with no judgment and
no shame.”
The Beading Hearts visit the Suffolk
County jail and sober houses
throughout the county to “let those
suffering with addiction know it’s not
a moral failure.”
“We let them know they matter, people
do care about them, they’re not
defined by their mistakes or what
was done beforehand,” Nuszen says.
Their message to angel moms: There
is reason to smile, find joy, and to give
themselves permission to live anew.
Together with the Family Service
League in Mastic, the group just
started its first sibling group, which
will be run by a social worker.
“The Beading Hearts have helped so
many people,” says Janet D’Agostino,
one of the founders of the group,
during a gathering at Nuszen’s house
in Patchogue last month. “When
you’re helping others, it’s helping
you. It’s a bigger mission than we even
know. Out of the worst circumstances
come some of the biggest gifts.”
D’Agostino’s son Vaughn lost his battle
with addiction in July 2015 at the
OPIOID
CRISIS
age of 24. For others at the gathering,
the devastating loss was just days or
weeks before. Name tags bore the
names of the mom and the child she
lost. Hugs and kisses were a normal
part of greeting each other.
Several of the more than 30 members
gathered in Patchogue last month
said they were led to the group by
their “angel” and they pay forward
the love and acceptance they were
given — in honor of their child.
Later this month, The Beading Hearts
will once again bring a holiday
celebration to a female sober house
in Mastic. They’ll have gift bags for
each of the clients, containing a pink
blanket, gloves and a water bottle
with the inscription: “Never Give Up,
Always Look Up.” Each gift bag will
have a personal card written by one
of the angel moms.
“We are broken,” Nuzsen says. “That
tragedy in our life has broken us into
pieces. By being together, we’re able
to break open — and in our openness,
we are able to find healing and patch
the cracks.”
“The heart will never go back to
where it was but we’re able to heal,
and seal the cracks with love,” she
says.
PRESS HEALTH
“The heart will never go back to where it was but
we’re able to heal, and seal the cracks with love,”
says Linda Nuszen.
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