Trooper Brett Lee and Kimberly Slavens, now 10 years sober.
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous reminds us that we are not cured of alcoholism. What we have is a daily reprieve from alcohol, based upon the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Our book also cautions against angry outbursts, saying “The grouch and the brainstorm are not for us… for us, these things are poison.” Here I present a grateful sobriety story and an angry drinking story, both from this week’s newspapers in mid-December, 2025.
Our angry story appeared in the New York Post. A large man paid for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s “All in, top shelf drinks package” with unlimited alcoholic drinks, beer, and wine throughout the cruise. Shortly after boarding, he was told that his room wasn’t ready. He went to the bar and had 33 drinks of liquor. He was then informed that his room was ready. He went to the right room number, but on the wrong deck. When the door wouldn’t open with his key, he became enraged and started kicking the door. When crew members came to redirect him, he fought with them. The fight grew as more crew piled on. Finally, unable to subdue him, the crew stood on him and injected him with Haldol, a prescription anti-psychotic drug. He then died.
Haldol has a warning instruction that it is not to be given to with alcohol, because of hypotension, or extremely low blood pressure. He appears to have died from very low blood pressure and all those people standing on him. His family is suing the cruise line.
I used to be an EMS medic, and I cannot imagine a situation in which 33 drinks plus a Haldol injection will have a safe and effective outcome.
There’s also a happy sobriety story this week, from the Washington Post. Kimberly Slavens had her second DWI arrest in Ohio on December 5, 2015. She feared that her life was ruined, facing jail, humiliation, and possible loss of child custody. She went to an inpatient rehab program for six months, where she was introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous. She was initially resentful of Trooper Brett Lee for arresting her and disrupting her life.
By the end of her first year of sobriety, she was grateful for her sober life, beginning with how she could finally be present for her son again. She wrote Trooper Lee a thank you note and dropped it at his station. That began an annual tradition of anniversary thank you notes for his service for saving her life and turning it around.
In recent years, they have arranged to meet in person on her arrest anniversary for the presentation of her thank you letters. For this year’s 10th anniversary meeting and letter, the Ohio State Highway Patrol had a souvenir license plate made up to celebrate their 10th anniversary.
Our book, Alcoholics Anonymous, says that “We will suddenly realize that God has been doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.” The sobriety story is the one with years of happy anniversaries.