Green Mountain,
Today I went to the funeral of an AA friend's father. Friend found out he was his father six weeks ago just after the father was told he was suffering from terminal liver failure and had no chance of getting a transplant. I have no idea what this mans life was like but I do know that he continued to drink after the diagnosis. I've been in a sh*y mood all day, and I guess its the whole despair thing. Oh, and my mother died of this disease, and there's a whole 'nother website I could post on that topic. You can't do anything to help this man. Why I am able to stay sober when my mother and this man were not, even after knowing without a doubt it was killing them, I can't say. But that's the reality of this disease, and sadly, NOTHING will help some recover. Not love, tolerance, understanding, cajoling, nor loss of freedom family or health. The man you remember from six years ago still exists somewhere in the shell that remains. And only that man can bring himself forth, if he believes he can.
Move on, let him know that you are doing so, and why. Then do so without looking back. If the man you once knew returns, he'll know where to find you.