Tom L. Age 50 Sober 8/3/17

Tom L. Age 50 Sober 8/3/17

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This conversation with Tom L, age 50, offers a raw look at more than three decades of drinking, the crash into despair, and the quiet hope that came when he finally reached for help. Hosted by Mike S, the episode opens with Mike sharing a harrowing story of almost killing a young scuba diver while high and drunk on a speedboat.

He talks about the “built-in forgetter” that sent him back to using within weeks, and why that near-disaster became an amends he can never make. From there, you’ll hear Tom’s story in reverse: starting with his last drink, then rewinding through his life.

He describes leaving a bar stool for a midnight AA meeting, hearing the preamble and the 12 steps laid out in “How It Works”, and feeling something new: “I felt a little bit of relief and some hope, which I hadn’t felt in a long time.” The next day, halfway through a beer on a city street, he stopped, threw it away, and that became his sobriety date.

Tom talks about a picture-perfect Vermont childhood, his fascination with alcohol and drugs, and how his father’s sudden departure with another woman blew his life apart. He links that trauma to years of self-sabotage, gathering “evidence” that the world was against him to justify drinking more. You’ll also hear about secret drinking, stashes hidden in hedgerows and wood piles, and the crushing double life of saying he’d quit while still drinking around the clock.

The emotional heart of the episode is Tom’s amends to his younger brother, who had effectively become his caretaker. In that conversation, Tom says he “became his older brother again” — a quiet shift that still lasts today. A simple line from an AA member sums up the spirit of the episode: “Oh honey, you don’t have to live like that anymore.

You don’t ever have to drink again.” Could this be the reminder you need to take the next step?