Hayden's guilt is particularly understandable because she was not a distant relative.
She was his sister.
She knew his struggles.
She had experienced addiction herself.
She tried to help him.
And because she had survived her own difficult periods, she may have felt that she should have been able to save him.
But addiction and mental-health struggles are complicated.
There is no single conversation that guarantees recovery.
There is no amount of love that can substitute for a person's own willingness and ability to pursue treatment.
Family members can support someone, encourage treatment, establish boundaries, and seek professional help. But they cannot control another person's decisions or guarantee another person's survival.
That is a painful truth.
It is also a necessary one.
Learning to Live With the Questions
Hayden did not pretend that she had completely solved her grief.
Instead, she spoke about learning to live alongside it.
She said that she never imagined having to live her life without Jansen.
