I usually introduce myself at TLC functions as “TLC’s oldest living resident.” I do it for a laugh, to kind of lighten the mood before I start sharing.
But, the fact is that for most of my 25 years here that’s been the case. If there’s a gathering at TLC I’m usually the oldest one there. In fact, I’ve only met one client who was older than I and he passed away a few years ago. He called himself “O.G.”
I bring this up today because I heard about a 75 year client with a bad attitude who just arrived at one of our Phoenix houses. I think he came to us from prison.
And for some reason hearing about this new arrival made me kind of sad. Because he came from prison at his age he probably was there for a long time. And while I know nothing about the guy I imagine that if he’s like most addicts, he wasted much of his life either sitting behind bars or else figuring out how to stay drunk or high.
When I encounter older clients I’m happy that we can offer them a safe place to live. They’re not homeless. They’re not panhandling in front of a convenience store. They’re not living on the river bottom in a cardboard shack.
If they stay with us long enough they find themselves among friends. We become a surrogate family for them. We help them stay sober, we help them feel like part of a community. They become responsible for themselves and others.
I guess the sadness in this came to me because there was likely a point in their lives when they could have accomplished anything.
Instead they spent their years emptying bottles and pipes, trying to escape their pain the quickest and easiest way possible.
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