Melissa Etheridge Looks Back on Emotional Memories with Late Son Beckett: 'Sweet, Sensitive Soul'

The singer's son died from causes related to opioid addiction on May 13, 2020, at age 21

Melissa Etheridge is reflecting on a difficult moment from her past.

The musician, 62, appeared on this week's episode of Who's Talking to Chris Wallace? on MAX, where she spoke to host Chris Wallace about her late son Beckett, who died in 2020 at age 21 from causes related to opioid addiction. "What do you want to tell us about Beckett?" Wallace asked.

"I would tell you that he was a special, just sweet soul... sensitive, sensitive soul, who found human-ing to be very hard," she shared. "And his one love that he found, one happiness that he found in life was snowboarding."

"And it was a snowboarding accident where he broke his ankle when he was 17-18 that the Vicodin started and once you sort of numb the pain, and it numbs all the pain in you and then you get hooked chemically, it's just almost impossible."

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Related: Melissa Etheridge Says She Learned About Her 'Capacity for Love' After Son Beckett's Death

Wallace then asked Etheridge to walk him through the emotions of her last few years with her son.

"You can't go save them, you can't run and save them every other week when they're making that poor choice, you have to eventually let a person make their choices," Etheridge said. "So whatever happens so when the call did come, I was like, 'OK, here it is.'"

"I mean, it's never like what you think, but there was relief because one he's out of pain. He's not in that pain. And now I can just love him for what I know of his soul, his beautiful soul."

Beckett died from causes related to opioid addiction on May 13, 2020. Etheridge shares her son with ex Julie Cypher, as well as daughter Bailey, 26. Etheridge is also mom to twins Johnnie Rose and Miller Steven, 17, whom she shares with ex Tammy Lynn Michaels.

In November, Etheridge opened up about how her beliefs about love helped her navigate the death of her son Beckett.

"When I lost my son, I learned how much my capacity for love was," said Etheridge on an episode of the Making Space with Hoda Kotb podcast.

"Not only loving him and missing him and being OK but loving myself enough not to go into major depression and guilt and shame which so many families that lose loved ones to opioid addiction, just the shame is too big," she continued.

"It's huge. So, I had to believe that there's an over surrounding love to everything. Everything is love."

The musician shared that dealing with her grief is "a practice."

“There can be days where the shadow comes on me. And I find myself thinking, ‘Oh, what if? What if I had done this? What if I had only done that?’ And that doesn’t serve me, and it causes me pain," she explained.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please contact the SAMHSA substance abuse helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

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