A friend of the family who I've known for my whole life was found dead behind a gas station having drunk himself to death. It was a long time coming as he's been an extreme alcoholic for most of his life. He was a functional alcoholic (drinking too much but could still hold a job, girlfriend, etc.) up until his late 20s or 30s when he was the victim of a brutal mugging that left him with permanent brain damage after which point he basically became a slave to drinking. Stealing, chugging vanilla extract and mouthwash in grocery store bathrooms, anything short of physically hurting someone to get a drink (luckily he was always able to keep that moral in check). He tried countless times to get sober but fell off the wagon every time to the point of almost everyone he knew giving up on him. I last talked to him about a month ago and he was doing okay. It's got me down even if it doesn't really come as a surprise. RIP Alan. You really didn't deserve that life. Even when you were doing dark **** to get by, you were always a great, heartful person.
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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.
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