Memorializing Days by William Moyers on Creators.com

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Memorializing Days

The unofficial start of summer is an official holiday to remember all Americans who have died in wartime service for our country.

That's easy for me to do, because I cry every time I watch the opening scenes of "Saving Private Ryan." I'm forever in awe of our fighting men and women — far younger than I am — whose bravery I never will match because I never will know combat. Unabashedly, I wave the flag and salute them all — and not just on Memorial Day.

But I also will use this long weekend to take time out to honor people whose selfless or unsolicited effort has helped in my own battle to overcome addiction and hold on to long-term recovery. And I silently will acknowledge those whose stories haven't ended up like mine, because they've added something to mine, too.

Some of them lived a long life in sobriety and passed their wisdom along. People such as Paul Lawson. "Go carefully, and be your own best friend," he emphasized whenever we met for a leisurely lunch or a quick cup of coffee. Paul always framed it up that way; keep it simple, and look no further than right now. "Twenty-four hours is the best I've ever done in sobriety," he liked to say. When it was over, in 2006, Paul died with 44 years of 24-hours-a-day straight.

There's Mel Schulstad, who died at 93 earlier this year having lived the last half of his life without taking a drink. "Don't ever be afraid to tell your story to other people," he affirmed after I'd been criticized for publicly sharing my life under the influence and what it took for me to get well. "It's those who need to hear who will hear it and find hope."

Though they never met, Mel and Paul were my intimate friends. Their recoveries live on in mine, as do the struggles of people I never have met.

There's Sheri Wilkins, an inmate in Texas. Out of the blue she wrote me a letter this week.

"My name is Sheri. I am an alcoholic.

I am 48 years old and have been incarcerated for 22 years. I was 25 when I got locked up for murder. My crime was directly related to my drinking." Behind bars, she got treatment for her illness. Now she's about to be released. "I'd like to know what I can do to help with your mission to raise the level of awareness and assistance for alcoholics and drug addicts. I plan on sharing my story whenever and wherever I'm able to."

Her words affirm that it is possible to recover, that it is never too late, even when later comes at the end of a long time locked up. And it is those consequences that remind me what is at stake in my recovery, as an inmate on Rikers Island wrote to me recently.

"My name is Scott Silverstein. I am 48 years old. I have been addicted to heroin for 30 years. I have spent 20 years in prison and used (drugs) my entire time, in and out of prison. Each time I've been released I believe I can stay sober. I get hooked, I steal, I get caught, I go back to prison.

"I have five — yes, five — separate prison stints under my belt. Every single one has been a desperate act to fuel my drug runs."

In my closet I keep a memorial card sent to me by the mother of Lucas Ramsdell. On the cover is a snapshot of "Luke," taken in a tranquil moment when he was fishing on a boat in the summertime. About seven years ago, he asked for my help. We stayed in regular contact, mostly by email, when he was briefly clean or when he called me collect from detox, drying out after a binge. "Darn it, William, I gotta kick this addiction somehow. I don't want to live or die this way," he said in one of our last conversations before he died. He was 35.

For every Luke, there is a Paul, and for every Scott, there is a Sheri, and for every Mel, there are those who aren't yet one day sober. A bit of each of them is in me, and this weekend, they remind me the fight is worth it.

William Moyers is the vice president of public affairs and community relations for the Hazelden Foundation and the author of "Broken," his best-selling memoirs, and "A New Day, A New Life." Please send your questions to William Moyers at wmoyers@hazelden.org. To find out more about William Moyers and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.