A longtime recovery friend - once a TLC client – sent me a text today about a close relative who recently went to a one-year recovery program. But he ended up leaving after he was there for six months.
But his early departure didn't end up well at all. Upon departing, he immediately became intoxicated and stole a car. That car got stuck in the mud so he abandoned it, then stole another one. The second stolen car ended up getting stuck on the railroad tracks and hit by a train. Undeterred, he stole another car and drove it until he flipped it and ended up in the hospital.
According to my friend, he died in the hospital at age 23. Way too young.
While I did many insane things when I was using drugs and alcohol I was fortunate enough to survive. And looking back I'm surprised that I didn't end up just like this young man – in the morgue.
After being sober for 32 years and having a wonderful life, I can't imagine reverting to the old lifestyle. Though I see it happen all the time with the clients at TLC and also to those who graduate from our treatment program.
When I think about this young man's too early death I wonder what happened to him while he was in the treatment program. Did he forget why he went to the program in the first place? Was he bored with living a sober life? Did he have an argument with a girlfriend or family member? Because I didn't know him personally, anything I thought about it would only be speculation.
When I went into recovery it was because life was becoming much too painful. I was never happy. Couldn't keep a job. All of my relationships had gone into the toilet. Nothing in my life was working and I really thought I would rather die than continue as I was.
And death was a distinct possibility because of my lifestyle. Before I went into detox, I knew that if I didn't change I was either going back to prison, jail, or a mental hospital. None of those options looked too appealing to me. And that state of unhappiness is what made me knock on the door of a detoxification program in Mesa, Arizona, in 1991. I had finally surrendered and it saved my life .
I believe that all we can do when someone dies of alcoholism or drug abuse is to look at it as a life lesson.
May he rest in peace.
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