Berrybean

My old drinking buddy (who is now living a reclusive alcoholic life where he sleeps in the daylight hours and drinks in the night hours and refuses to see most of his old friends) allowed me a visit a few weeks ago.

He told me how glad he is that I'm sober and in recovery, and says he can see lots of change in me and I seem calm and happy now. That's all very nice isn't it.
He also showed me a video clip of Angela Lansbury in an episode of Murder She Wrote, where Jessica Fletcher is acting like a bar fly / lush (presumably as part of some crime-solving fiasco or another). He said that when he watched it he was reminded of me when I was in 'happy drunk' mode, and if I'd kept drinking this is what I'd have been like a few years down the line. I hate to say it, but I can see what he means as well.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIGpre5u_Qg

Ouch. Just ouch.

LiveInPeace

I always thought my "happy drunk mode" was cute and fun for me and everyone else. That is, until I stopped drinking and watched other people in that mode. It was a scary mirror to view, but I am grateful for it.

Soberwolf

Hope your friend finds recovery

oldsoul1122

That's one very sad thing about alcoholism. He knows his situation and what lies ahead but feels unable to do something about it. Your being around him may give him some hope and inspiration.

sleepie

Yeah... pot calling the kettle black much?

He's taking shots I think... had a "friend" who did this.

He's not my friend anymore. I make better choices regarding my company now I'm alcohol free. Bet you will too beccybean

Berrybean

I don't often visit - I don't think he was taking a shot any more than he always does at everyone (which is, I think, why he has withdrawn from the world).

He is very sick. His life is now alcohol; TV; sleep; and visits to the corner shop for booze. He has told me he often thinks of killing himself: Handing himself from the tree on the communal lawn at the alms houses where he lives, in semi-sheltered accommodation.

I took him to AA once and he refused to go again (no biggie - plenty of people take different journeys) and he managed a few months sober after that, only to decide he must be cured and crack open a bottle of sherry NYE 2014. He has not had the inclination or the heart to try again since then. I don't suppose he will live much longer. We have many years of friendship behind us, so I drop by every so often. The visits do bring me down though so I only go when I'm feeling particularly resilient. Maybe I'll send him a letter this week. He'll like that. Maybe. Lol. You know when there are English eccentrics in films. I think pretty much all of them were based on him.

Anyway - he has a point. I recognise my old 'lush' self in that clip. I can cope with that knowing that I have now changed my direction and have no intention of revisiting the place that was turning me into that sad person.

Delfin

You have a good attitude about all of this, Beccy, and that's really great. At the end of the day, what you are today, not what you were in the past or what you might have become is what counts. That's what I tell myself anyway.

It does pain me to hear about your friend though. I hope he finds recovery, even though it seems like it's a long shot...hope springs eternal.

Delfin