Submitted by her sister, Allison McGann
What Dawn was like
Dawn was my older sister. She loved the outdoors. She was very loving, and she was a very complicated person. You never got what you expected.
People described her as the life of the party
She was loud. She was very outrageous. You definitely heard her before you saw her. She was a fun-loving person who would go to any lengths to make people laugh.
A memory that captures her
She was 16. I was 14, getting ready to go out on this date. I asked her to help me do my makeup. She said yes. So she sat me down and she told me all about how I was supposed to behave with boys, and I was thinking, I’m so lucky she’s going to do this.
And she did my whole face. It took her forever. And then I went and looked in the mirror, and she had taken blue eye shadow and covered my face with it. I looked like a smurf! And she laughed and said, “You should never take anything too seriously.”
It took me forever to wash my face off. My face was completely red. It was a horrible night for me, but it ended up being pretty funny in the end. And it kind of gave me a good ice breaker.
She did things like that, but it was always in fun — at least until the drugs.
How I found out Dawn was using drugs
When my sister was nearly 20, our family got a call from her that she was in a different province. The guy who had taken her there had gotten her hooked on drugs, and she realized he was trying to prostitute her. She called my family in a panic.
She spent the next 33 years battling her addictions. She would have times where she got clean and stopped. Shortly after that first episode, she was clean for years. Then she relapsed on crack and got clean again. Not really sure what it was the last time that pushed her over.
How our relationship changed while Dawn was struggling with opioid-use disorder
Dawn became very distant. She went from being my big sister to someone I didn’t even recognize.
A good memory
Our last special time spent together was at a celebration of life for Dawn’s godfather, Pentti “Whitey” Glan. He was a drummer for Alice Cooper and Lou Reed; my mom and Whitey went to high school together.
There was an event for him at the Opera House in Toronto, and Dawn had to go and give a speech from the stage. She asked if I would go up there with her and hold her hand while she did it, and I did.
She was nervous, so when she got overwhelmed, I had some people in the crowd say “Caccaw! Caccaw!” to snap her out of it, and it worked! She did a really good job. I was like, My job is done.
What Dawn was proudest of
Her greatest accomplishments were her two daughters and two grandchildren.
How I found out she died
We have a property in the Thousand Islands. It’s remote, and there’s no cell service. We were driving to town to get reception, and the police called. They said Dawn had overdosed. And I thought, This isn’t the first time we’ve had this happen.
I asked what hospital she was in, and he said, “She didn’t make it.” I just couldn’t believe it.
She did it intentionally
She was living in a home for mentally ill, drug-dependent people. She had just been through a breakup with an ex-boyfriend. She bought the fentanyl off the street.
I thought maybe she didn’t know what she was doing — maybe the fentanyl was mixed with another drug — but the police said it was very intentional. Which is kind of a hard pill to swallow.
She didn’t leave a note, but she erased her Facebook. The last texts on her phone were to the ex-boyfriend. There wasn’t much closure for us.
If I could say one thing to Dawn now, it would be
You had so much to live for and have left many people heartbroken.
It’s time to tell the truth
The guy at the funeral home asked how Dawn died, and we said by overdose. He said, “Maybe we could just say she died at home.” And I said, “Maybe we could just tell the truth.”
She battled her addictions her whole life. The drugs won, and we lost a precious family member.
Addiction is one of those things, like sexual abuse, that people don’t want to talk about. But I don’t think that’s the answer. Dawn was actually sexually abused when she was younger.
I think that these stories need to be told, so maybe someone else in this situation will have a better outcome than my sister did. So that another family doesn’t have to go through what we’ve been through. If anyone else is feeling desperate or at the end of their rope, they should know that they’re not alone. If one person can be helped by our tragedy, it would be a little silver lining in all this pain.
This took me a bit because I have a few fun party time memories involving Dawn, but I have to be honest.
The best memory I have of Dawn is when she was working at the Port Hope fair a couple years ago.
We seen each other and was like HEEEEYYYYYY!!!!! One big bear hug later and we were on our way down memory lane.
I had my youngest with me, Eli. This was the first time she’d met him and man did she treat him like a king.
She ran the baby swing carousel, which he adored.
So while we trotted down memory lane she broke all the carnival rules and let Eli ride for???at least 20mins, round and round in complete bliss while we caught up.
Dawn was more than she appeared to some people.
Dawn was strong but weak at times as we all are, and maybe the weak times were at the worst times, but she was STRONG.
She gave a damn about alot of people, even the ones who weren’t worth giving a damn about.
That way of living is inspiring to me.
Even if that inspiring life made a few bad decisions.
That’s what makes us human, and Dawn was a great, happy, funny and a loving human.
Although she is gone WAYYYYY too soon, she will always hold a piece of my heart and I’m sure the hearts of many.
That smile….that big laugh…warms my heart thinking about it????
Dawn was my niece. I never met her until she was an adult woman. Yes she was loud but she had the biggest heart . Her mortal pain is now gone and she is in a beautiful new home. Prayers go out for her on a daily basis. I love you Dawn . Rest in peace