Stories of Recovery - The Power of a Changed Life - Frank TyrellStories of Recovery - The Power of a Changed Life - Frank Tyrell
Recovery At Cokesbury
Frank Tyrell shares how childhood wounds, addiction and self-hatred shaped his life, and how AA, faith and community helped him change. His story highlights family healing, daily spiritual practices and the slow removal of the shame-filled "sticky notes" he once believed about himself.
35:33•22 May 2026
Sticky Notes, Shame and a Loving God: Frank Tyrell’s Story of Recovery
Episode Overview
- Childhood in an alcoholic, emotionally closed home fed deep beliefs of being unworthy and unlovable.
- Alcohol and later drugs initially felt like the answer, but eventually stopped working and intensified shame and isolation.
- Rehab, AA, and a Christ-centred recovery community opened a path to see God and others as sources of love and support.
- Working the 12 steps helped Frank recognise he was repeating his father’s distance and commit to daily amends, especially with his children.
- Simple daily actions – prayer, step work, checking in with other alcoholics, and speaking words of love – help him resist old "sticky note" lies.
“"I had no idea that I had been loved already. I just wanted to hear those words."”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? In this raw and faith-filled story, Frank Tyrell shares how a childhood starved of "I love you" led to decades of shame, addiction and self-blame – and how God, AA, and community slowly rewrote the labels he carried around in his head. Frank grew up in an alcoholic home where feelings were off-limits and love was never spoken.
He explains his inner critic as the "sticky note guy" – that voice that keeps sliding notes under the door saying, "you're not worthy" and "you don't belong". Alcohol first felt like magic, turning a quiet, insecure kid into someone who could talk, laugh and feel part of the crowd. But as the years rolled on, drinking and then drugs went from solution to prison.
He talks honestly about chasing his father’s approval, losing him before ever hearing "attaboy", and then sinking into daily use, legal trouble, secret drinking and a suicide attempt. There’s no glossing over the damage done to his wife and children, or the shame of repeating the same cold distance his own dad showed him. Things shift when his wife lays down boundaries and he enters rehab, AA, and a Christ-centred recovery community.
Frank explains how meetings, sponsorship, and the 12 steps helped him see that others could hold faith for him when he couldn’t, and how he slowly came to picture God as the loving Father he’d longed for. Now, daily amends, constant "I love yous" to his kids, simple habits like morning texts to other alcoholics, and watching "miracles" in others keep him grounded.
Anyone who’s ever felt defective, unloved, or too broken for recovery may feel seen in his story – and may start to question their own "sticky notes" too. What labels are you still carrying that someone else never meant for you to keep?
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