On an ordinary October afternoon in 2018, Janet Ropp's world split into before and after. A massage appointment, a missed call, four police cars in her driveway, and then the words no mother is ever prepared to hear. Her son James was gone, taken by an overdose at nineteen years old.
Dear James is Janet's unflinching account of the years that followed: the shattering, the searching, and the slow, sacred work of learning to live again. This memoir doesn't offer easy comfort or tidy answers. Instead, it offers something rarer: honesty.
The day everything split into before and after
Inside, you'll find
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A raw, real-time account of the day addiction took her son, and the years of grief that followed
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Her journey through codependency, twelve-step recovery spaces, and the particular grief of losing someone to overdose
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A deeply personal exploration of signs, spiritual connection, and what it means to stay bonded to someone who has crossed beyond the physical
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“All That He Was,” a loving tribute to who James truly was, beyond the addiction that took him
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A curated resource guide for grieving parents, families affected by addiction, and anyone searching for support after loss
Grief has no timeline
This book is for the mother who has cried in her car after a hard day and then driven to the next one anyway. For anyone who has lost a child, a sibling, a piece of themselves to addiction. For anyone standing in the wreckage of what used to be, wondering if there's a way forward.
There is. Janet found it. And she is holding the door open for you.
In Janet's words
“I didn't write this book because I had all the answers. I wrote it because I know what it feels like to lose a child, to question everything, and to wonder if life will ever feel whole again. If my story helps even one grieving parent feel seen, understood, or less alone, then sharing James' story has been worth every word.”
— Janet Ropp
What readers are saying
“Raw, sacred, and quietly transformative, a memoir for anyone standing in the ruins of before and after.” - Hosanna Flores, Writers of the West
“I felt every word in this book… It’s a good read for those who have lost and for ones who support the grieving.” - Brooklyn, Amazon reader review
