Melissa Etheridge felt ‘guilt’ and ‘shame’ after son’s death from opioid addiction: ‘I did the best I could to keep myself alive’
nypost.comfrom causes relating to opioid addiction. Etheridge, who came out as a lesbian in 1993 and has been married to “Nurse Jackie” co-creator Linda Wallem since 2014, is a mother of four: she had Beckett and Bailey Jean, 27 (using David Crosby as a sperm donor) with her ex partner, Julie Cypher, and she also had twins Johnnie Rose and Miller Steven, 17, with her ex partner, Tammy Lynn Michaels. “About 20 years ago, I went through breast cancer, and it changed my outlook on life . . .
Part of that is understanding that I can’t save anyone,” Etheridge told The Post, reflecting on Beckett’s death. “Everyone’s here to make their own choices.
And all of us have our own things to learn and grow from, even my children. I’m not here to tell them, ‘This is what you’re going to do with your life,’ that’s not my business,” she continued. “My business is to love them, to feed and water them and maybe show them that the world is an amazing place where you can create.”Etheridge noted that Beckett’s passing was “a real difficult thing to deal with.”“It doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel guilt, and I didn’t feel shame.
Of course I did at the time, especially being so public,” she explained. “But, the years of a connection with myself made it possible for me to find a light in that dark tunnel and go, ‘Yes, I lost my son.
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