Most “sober” people still drink and have dysfunctional lives.

I find when most people believe, as you do, that it’s not a miracle to be alive and sober, it’s usually because an addict in their life hurt them deeply, as you eluded to.

You need as a much healing as any addict does, which is the miracle you would, of course, be entitled to have.

We each get our own. Staying alive and breathing gives us another day to get it.

I also often disagree with the disease model, methods of clinical diagnosis, and treatment.

The fundamental cause of addiction by my observation is avoidance of pain. (I worked in the addiction field for 4.5 years).

But the chemical aspect of addiction does take over at some point—making us chemically addicted to a substance, chemically changing our brains, and creating the suffering that boomerangs into the social problems that affect us all.

It’s a complicated issue with no easy treatment.

I’m sorry about what happened to your family and I’m sorry for your pain. I wish you healing.

And while I don’t need a cookie for staying sober, many do. The shit is hard. Life is hard. Sobriety is hard for someone who got to live a numb and painless life on the ultimate high for so long.

I would love to show you the families restored, the kids who love their sober parent, and the massive joy created in the world by addicts who have stayed sober for many years.

But I get it. I helped raise a kid who lost her parents to addiction. I’ve buried many more. I shake my fist at God, I shake my head and ask WHY DIDN’T MY LOVED ONE MAKE IT???

not everyone makes it, which is why those of us who do truly are miracles.