Testimonials
Health and Happiness Found in Hermann. By Bradley Irwin
Learn to Live Recovery is best described by its name. It is a sanctuary of recovery where one can find themselves again, or possibly for the first time, in order to learn to live a healthy, sober life with direction and purpose. On the other hand, its a house full of men trying to get their act together and have a great time in the process. I can say that I experienced both in my time in the hills of Hermann. When I came to Missouri from California, I was petrified at the notion of being trapped in a house full of midwestern degenerates for an undetermined amount of time, and rightfully so, but in hind sight, I would not trade the months I spent at Learn to Live for anything. The skills and perspective I garnered in my time living in the care of the Learn to Live staff has imbued a confidence in myself, and my recovery, that I could not have imagined beforehand. It is difficult to describe what it is like having this team of caring, thoughtful professionals on your side to guide each step you take through your personal recovery. At first, its a much needed helping hand, but eventually, at least for me, they become a new family of support for whom you want to succeed. I am proud that they are proud of me and the direction I am headed in life. I am proud of the confidence they have in me and I will cherish their guidance and friendship for the rest of my life. Now, enough of about the amazing staff and how they have radically changed my life, lets talk about the real people who make Learn to Live Recovery live up to its name, the guys in the house.
The biggest attribute this program has to offer is camaraderie. You have a group of men who all struggle with similar issues and we are all plopped into the same house up on a hill trying to figure out how to scratch the same itch. I used to describe my recovery as a boat thats been at sea for two decades and if you want to help get her to port, you have to listen to me, because I am the captain of this ship so only I know what kind of waters she can handle. Well, when I was shipwrecked in Hermann, I didn’t know it at the time but my boat got inundated with new crew members, however, without them I wouldn’t have ever gotten off the beach and onto a course for calmer waters. A very important part of recovery is creating a sober network and it can be easily found at Learn to Live. Not everyone is going to be best friends with everyone but the bonds you form in this house are invaluable.
They are the stepping stones to creating a life of meaning and joy without the vices that tore us down for so long. I am honored to have joined the ranks of LTL alumni and, with ten months of sobriety under my belt and a new lease on life, I am currently in school studying Behavioral Health with the intention to pursue a PhD in therapy and substance abuse counseling in order to follow in the footsteps of the people at Learn to Live Recovery who helped me get to this place in my life. A place where tomorrow is not a question of how, or even whether or not, I will survive, but where tomorrow is another welcomed opportunity to continue to improve my life so I can help others one day. You can find a better, healthier way to enjoy life, and Learn to Live is the perfect place to do that with the right combination of support from friends and, what might come to feel like, family. Oh, and if you don’t like people, theres also a dog on staff that will listen to you, but only when he wants to.
Best regards,
from a grateful, recovering alcoholic and addict, Bradley Steven Irwin
Over the course of my life, I have faced challenges. by Brent Ricketts
Some self-created, others, not so much. No more or no less than the average person I suppose. On paper, and for those looking on from the outside, it would appear that I have handled life’s challenges with relative ease. However, starting in 2020 and throughout the subsequent years, the challenges of sobriety and my mental health were two of the first things I found myself failing at time and time again. Such failures further exacerbated my drinking, deteriorated my mental health even more so, diminished my self-confidence, strained my familial relationships beyond toleration, and overall crippled my ability to live and enjoy a life as I had once envisioned.
I found myself at a crossroads they say. I had to make a conscious decision to try and reclaim my life through the process and lifestyle of recovery – but alone, I was ill-equipped to do so. Thus, I gave Learn to Live a chance to do what they are one of the best at doing – helping men from all walks of life do just as their name says, learn to live. Since then, my life and the lives of those around me have changed in such a positive way… A stark contrast compared to the prior years.
Learn to Live and the passionate individuals who make up the team did exactly what they conveyed they would do – love me, support me, help me in all aspects of my life (both professionally and personally), and in general, help make my new life in recovery seem and eventually become achievable. Personally, I can look back and see the majority of my success stems from the time and effort I have dedicated to specific pursuits. During those pursuits, I always had a physical place where my time was spent honing my skills. Whether that be the law school library where I spent hundreds of hours poring over casebooks on my way to a juris doctorate or my office where I spent long, sometimes never-ending days reading and drafting documents to ensure my work product was above and beyond my standards I set for myself.. I always had a place. Learn to Live provided me with that place once again. A place that allowed me to focus on one and one thing only, myself.
Now although I was the primary beneficiary of the fellowship, the program, and everything Learn to Live offers its residents, I was by no means the sole beneficiary. Addiction is and was for me a family disease. In other words, the impacts from addiction are far from isolated to the individual who suffers from such. Conversely, it impacts the entire family of that individual greatly and my family and I were no different. Aside from the program Learn to Life provided me, the individual, the Family Program offered has made and continues to make a lasting impact on my family who participate in it. Through the Family Program my family has learned as much if not more than me about principles of recovery, boundaries, trust, support, and just how to live a fulfilling life with, not apart from, a loved one who is in recovery.
Learn to Live has brought so much to my family and I but most of all, it has allowed me to begin living a life I am proud of.