My Dad Is Sober For The First Time In 60 Years – Here’s What Changed

Crack addicted, homeless, and days away from death – he accomplished the impossible.

Recently, I reconnected with my dad after having blocked him for over 6 months. I had written an article back then about how he was threatening to kill himself if I didn't give him money.

Over the years, he had begged for money many times – that part was nothing new. Threatening suicide however was a whole different plan of attack and at first, I wasn’t sure what to do.

He was at his worst — and it was always up to me to fix it.

I was always the parent in the family, from a very young age– I was always the one people came to for help or to vent to– I was also the one everyone blamed.

I took a few days alone in a little airbnb an hour from home because I didn’t want to repeat the patterns of enabling that I had over the years. This time was especially hard because this 74-year-old man was telling me he was going to end his life.

I had never cut him out of my life in the other 30 years that I’ve known him but the addiction was only getting worse — no matter what I did.

I knew I had to block him. I knew there was nothing I could do to help him, he had to do it for himself.