Claire Smith, 2, goes to her bedroom – her mother's old room – for an afternoon nap last month in the home of her grandparents, Matt and Cheryl Baker of Stow. In 2015, Claire's mother Ronni, 23, died from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl.
The day after their daughter's death, the Bakers – Matt, left, and Cheryl – filed an emergency petition for guardianship over Claire, whose father also has struggled with addiction.
Claire sleeps in her mother's old room where a drawing of Claire and Ronni hangs above the bed. Claire was too young to understand what happened when Ronni died, but she noticed her mother was missing. The first few nights after Ronni’s overdose, she cried all night long.
Fred Smith, Claire's father, started abusing prescription pills while in high school and eventually he and Ronni both started using heroin. He now says he hasn't used drugs in two years and he and his girlfriend often attend Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings together.
Cheryl takes Claire to gymnastics class in Conway, N.H. The Bakers have adjusted their work schedules to make themselves available to pick Claire up from daycare and take her to activities.
Cheryl, a 52-year-old special education teacher in Fryeburg public schools, pulls Claire in a sled at their home in Stow. Cheryl says Claire keeps her and her husband busy and helps push away the enduring grief. "She can lift you out of the doldrums," Baker says.
Matt and Claire relax before lunch recently. A sergeant at the Oxford County Sheriff's Department, Matt shares the story about losing Claire's mother, Ronni, to drug addiction when he speaks at police training seminars and high school assemblies in the state. "If you keep the memories alive and the pain alive," he says, "it keeps the issue alive."
Cheryl watches through a window as Claire leaves for an overnight stay with her father.
Claire says goodbye to her grandfather before an overnight stay with her father.
Fred waits at the door of their rented home in Stow as Nichole Schiller rushes to get inside with Claire, who is recently potty trained and had just announced she had to use the bathroom.
Fred carries Claire into the kitchen. For a few months after the death of Claire's mother, he was allowed to see his daughter only under the supervision from of his sister or grandparents. "That was hard for a while," he says, but now he and Nichole have custody of Claire for two nights and one afternoon each week.
Fred pours his daughter a glass of juice before dinner.
Nichole reaches down to pick up Claire during a visit. She and Claire have become very close in the year and a half they have known each other.
Fred and Claire play in the snow outside Fred and Nichole's home.
Nichole, Claire and Fred relax on the floor before Claire watches her favorite show.
Local & State 
