Boston mayor Marty Walsh, son of Irish parents, has described the day he reached rock bottom in his battle with addiction.

He told a class of people battling homelessness and addictions at the Pine Street Inn about his own challenge in life.

“I had a terrible day yesterday,” the mayor said as reported by the Boston Herald. “For whatever reason, I was in a bad mood. And I couldn’t quite figure it out. And I knew what was wrong and you know what was wrong. I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing.”

“It’s interesting,” he said about being mayor. “It’s recovery, a day at a time. I live my life a day at a time.”

“My journey’s different than a lot of your journeys, but it’s similar, because somewhere along the line when I thought I was having fun with life, my fun of going out and partying turned to sadness, a pit in my stomach, desperation, not understanding where I was going to go,” he said.

“I hit what I hope was my bottom April 23, 1995, because I had done a weekend long of binge drinking, a few blackouts sprinkled in there,” said Walsh. “I
remember waking up in that apartment with a gut feeling inside, not knowing what to do. I wanted to jump out the window but I didn’t have the courage to jump out the window. ... And I knew what the problem was – the problem was I couldn’t stop drinking.”

The next day he sought help from a counselor who asked him ten questions about whether he was an addict.

“It was the only test where I ever got 10 for 10 right.”

Soon after he ended his addictive behavior and began his career in politics.