Originally Posted by
HereToGetBetter 
He keeps bringing up how he was a few years ago, almost homeless, and drinking every day, and how it's so much better now. And he's right.
Yes he is, being homeless and drinking to what he is up to now is a step in the right direction. Good for him!
Originally Posted by
HereToGetBetter BUT he's right in that he is doing better than before, and that's a big source of conflict for me because it makes me feel like my feelings aren't valid.
How does his declaration of his effort diminish what you are feeling?
You are not happy with the shell of a person he becomes when drinking. Whether he dragged himself up off the streets or not, is irrelevant (and I don't mean that to in anyway discount his efforts).
He did something for himself and that is somehow magically supposed to make YOU ok.
I don't get it really.