Ohiopyle woman starting nonprofit to honor son who died of overdose
Courtesy of Terri Krysak
Terri Krysak, owner of Bittersweet Cafe in Farmington, is working to launch Bittersweet Gives, a line of products to benefit support groups and recovery organizations, including halfway and three-quarter houses that support those who desire to be free from drugs. Pictured is her son, Ryan “Tom” Krysak, who died of a drug overdose last year.
Ryan “Tom” Krysak
For three years, customers at Bittersweet Cafe in Farmington, Fayette County, often were greeted by an irrepressibly friendly and burly, thick-bearded man who easily broke into a smile and wore his ball cap backwards.
Tom Krysak was a manager and cook at the popular Laurel Highlands eatery owned by his mother, Terri Krysak.
But on Feb. 13, 2021, Tom died from a fentanyl overdose at the age of 33.
It was, for Krysak, an unexpected end to her family’s 12-year battle with her son’s heroin addiction. Tom had spent the past three years in recovery.
“He was a force. He was funny and athletic, and just had a twinkle in his eye. Everybody liked him,” said Krysak. “Nothing would draw him out from behind the counter faster than hearing about someone lost in addiction who wanted a way out. He wanted very much to help others in his situation. For three years, he was able to do that, and then he wasn’t. I’m grateful for those three years.”
Krysak has decided to turn her grief and pain into a project that she hopes will carry on her son’s mission from going down the same path he went down.
She recently announced she is working to launch Bittersweet Gives, a line of products, including hats and t-shirts; a portion of the proceeds will benefit support groups and recovery organizations, including halfway and three-quarter houses that support those who desire to be free from drugs.
Throughout his three years of recovery, Tom was a passionate advocate for those battling addiction, and was eager to talk with them about the challenges he faced and how his faith gave him strength.
He talked with his mother about the importance of halfway houses and three-quarter houses, and had shared with Terri his goal of opening a three-quarter house.
“So many people he went through recovery with didn’t have anywhere to go. He had so many friends who didn’t have the family support that he did,” said Krysak. “Tom was a fountain of hope and acceptance, and he poured that out to others for three years. Through Bittersweet Gives, we want to celebrate his accomplishments, his ministry and his life, and support causes that were close to his heart.”
She’s chosen to talk about her son’s life as a way to raise awareness about how what happened to Tom could happen in any family and in any community.
“Everybody has somebody in their life who is struggling with this. I’m surrounded by people who have lost their sons. The drug epidemic is absolutely out of control. It is horrific,” said Krysak. “Before my son passed away, he was horrified by what was happening.”
With Bittersweet Gives, she also wants to remove the stigmas surrounding addiction and to humanize those who find themselves mired in drugs.
Krysak said her son’s struggle with addiction included jail time, which turned out to be, for him, a life-changing experience.
While sitting in a jail cell in Fayette County Prison, Tom overheard a church service.
From that moment on, Krysak said, her son leaned on his faith and became a champion for those trapped in addiction.
For most of his life, he had gone by his middle name, Thomas, but after he found out in a Bible study in prison that his first name, Ryan, meant son of the king, he wanted to be called Ryan.
“He realized the Lord was with him, and he never looked back,” said Krysak.
Tom became a cook and a manager at Bittersweet, and, a gifted athlete, he golfed often with his mom.
Krysak said he especially loved spending time with his close-knit family, and he enjoyed being outdoors, spending his free time bow hunting, fishing, and riding all-terrain vehicles.
And he worked to repair the relationships damaged by his years of drug use, including his relationship with his four brothers.
“His brothers and I surrounded him with as much love as we possibly could. It was a struggle and a journey getting over 12 years of addiction, and he squandered so much of his potential during that time. He never hid from anyone the horror of what he had done and what he had been, and we were at different points of healing,” said Krysak.
The week before he died, Tom, recently married, became the father of twins.
He was as happy as Krysak had ever seen him, but he worried whether he would be a good father. Krysak suspects those worries led him to turn to drugs again. An autopsy showed three types of fentanyl, an opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin, had been mixed into what Tom likely thought was heroin.
Two days before Tom passed away, Krysak conducted a survey with the staff at Bittersweet Cafe, asking for their vision of the restaurant.
“He wrote that he wanted to use Bittersweet Cafe to touch people with the saving power of Jesus Christ,” recalled Krysak, noting that Tom put together the cafe’s music playlist of uplifting songs. “Most people are thinking, ‘What is my son about?’ My son wrote it down for me. His whole story, this whole thing, is bittersweet. Tom had so much color in the way he saw the world, and I never thought I’d see color again. But I can now. Tom celebrated life and hope and purpose, and making the most of what you’ve got, and he touched lives. And we will continue to do that for him.”
Note: Bittersweet Gives also plans to host a golf scramble in the summer or fall. Additional information on the tournament and Bittersweet Gives will be available on the Bittersweet Cafe Facebook page