Old friend

September 22nd

Since I finished my inpatient therapy stay for my addiction last November, I’ve been going back there every week for an individual therapy session. I feel safe and comfortable seeing the building, the therapist, and the staff there. Every time I am there, I see new faces — there is no shortage of people who need help in overcoming their addiction. Today, I was in for a surprise — the woman who was in the therapy session before my appointment was Helenka — who was in my therapy group last Fall. We had a couple of minutes to talk and catch up. She told me that after finishing her therapy stay a week after mine, she was doing fine and was sober for a year. A couple of weeks ago, unfortunately, she had a relapse — as she said it was the loneliness that that got to her, and she turned back to alcohol. Her children brought her back to the therapy facility and arranged for another 8 weeks. She said it was only an isolated incident, but neither she nor her children were willing to risk that that one moment of weakness will not turn into another prolonged session. She looked so much better than I remember her from almost a year ago, it seems that sober life was fantastic for her (not counting the relapse of course). And now here is the main point — Helenka is 74 years old, she first went for addiction therapy when she was 73, after half a century of drinking. I remember her first night there when she was in a detox ward, and she was delirious and seeing things and had to be restrained. During our group therapy sessions, for the first couple of weeks, she was in denial — it took a while for her to accept that she has a problem and needs professional help. After that, she was a perfect patient, and helpful and nice grandma-type co-patient (a little bossy I have to say). She is 74 years old, and she is not giving up, she is trying again to get an edge over her addiction. She still wants to have a sober, normal, and fulfilling life, and she is a real-life example that it is possible to fight alcoholism at any age. As she said — “I am going to keep trying and fighting”. We hugged before I had to go to a mine therapy session and I wished her strength and perseverance, I think I got a little emotional as well…

I really hope that Helenka can do it this time, and stay sober after that therapy. She accepted her weakness in a momentary relapse, but is not giving up — and that is a perfect example for anybody who struggles with addiction.