Edwin Lanier Jr. (left), who is homeless, speaks with his friend, David Wright (right).
Originally aired October 20, 2006, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Transcript
DW: Would you say you came from a predominant family?
EL: Yeah, I came from an excellent family. My daddy was elected mayor twice. I used to walk down the streets holding his hand, everybody’d stop’n pet me on the head’n say, ”how you doin’ little mayor?” Uh… yeah I had a wonderful daddy.
DW: Your dad knew that there was alcoholism in the family?
EL: Oh yes sir, I had alcoholism on both sides but the worst came out on my daddy’s side, and uh, when I was about fourteen he said, ”son look, you come from a long line of chronic alcoholics.” He said ”I’m an alcoholic just waiting for the first drink and I refuse to take it.” He said ”if you do you’ll get away with it for awhile but it’ll destroy your life and probably kill you.” And he said ”i want you to remember that.” And I said, ”okay daddy I’ll give it some serious thought.” I gave it enough thought that that halloween I went trick-or-treating with my buddy and um we passed a horseshoe of frat houses, they was all out there partying and uh one of them frat boys said, ”hey, you ever had a drink?” and I said ”no, I hadn’t.” Those kids knew who I was. Everybody knew who my daddy was. He said, ”now you drink this, it’s gonna burn, but your gonna like this.” I never felt so good in my life. As long as I had alcohol in my system I was what I always wanted to be; a self-confident, good-looking, witty human being. And it worked very well for forty some odd years of my life.
DW: Must have taken a lot of self discipline to turn around.
EL: Well it took more than that. I had just been released from my twenty-eighth treatment for alcoholism. And uh, the doctor told me when I left that, ”I give you two weeks and I’ll read your name in the obituaries.” So I went to Chapel Hill, and I stopped at the cemetery where my Mama and Daddy were buried to let them know that I’m sober, and that I’m going to die this way. So then I came on down to a place I knew where there’s an exit ramp where cars come around. I held a sign there, ”homeless anything will help, god bless.” And that’s where I met you. Every time you came by you’d stick out a two dollar bill and a can of tuna fish.
DW: Remember that day in front of the a…
EL: Yes, the bank! It was New Year’s Eve. And I had nowhere to go, couldn’t drink, everybody’s partying, and you walked on over and said, ”remember me?” I said, ”yes, you’re the two dollar bill man.” You said, ”I’m gonna take you home with me for a New Year’s Eve party. how would you like that?” I said, ”I don’t think that would work, sir, you’ve got a wife? She’s gonna have a lot to say to you about bringing a homeless, smelly old man home with you.” You said uh, ”my wife will receive you well.” I went to your home and I had a shower and you gave me some clean clothes. And we sat down at the table and I tell you some stories about who I really was and who my Daddy was. There was a lot more to me than you might imagine
DW: I hope I was a little bit of a help along your path.
EL: Well you know david I… without your kindness and your and family and all I don’t know, I wouldn’t say I’d have gone back drinking again but I’d say it would’ve been rough.