Recovery is never the main point of the conversation, but, back then especially, it was comforting to hear mentions of it here and there, or a story of what the guest used to be like — because I got to hear them on the other side, where getting sober was now just a part of their bigger story, not the defining and all-consuming thing it was for me. Mostly, it felt good to hear them laugh. I desperately needed to laugh.
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