Dear Dr. Laura, 

Recently, I celebrated my 1 year anniversary of sobriety.  I'm a drunk who takes it a day at a time, a last journeying towards continued sobriety rather than self-inflicted oblivion and destruction.

I very specifically remember a call over a year ago with a woman who had a gambling addiction.  I remember you being hard on her, and the frustration in her voice. But I also remember relating to that woman, and feeling frustrated along with her because I too was caught in the obsessive and insane grips of addiction. You said, "I can't help you with this" and "There is no magic here".  Your harshness stuck with me, and the words resonated.

At one point in the call you compared the caller's addiction to making lasagna, and she got pretty frustrated. I think you are hard and un-sympathetic to drunks like me, but maybe that's just what we need to hear. I too was that woman who, for a while, looked for that "easy fix". Hearing the frustration in that woman's voice, and you calling her out on that frustration, and seeing it for what it really was, has stayed with me.

The past year has been one of very hard work for me; I've got a sponsor who is sometimes as harsh as you, calling me out on my shit when I need it. Staying sober is brutal work sometimes, but it's so worth it. Finally, finally, I have learned to ask for help and use it well.

Day-at-a-time and exponentially grateful,

Leeanna