Sober anniversary

At about this time six years ago (May 22, 2002, not sure exactly the hour) I had my last drink.

It was vodka, cheap and seemingly necessary. I had relapsed a week or two before after only 3 1/2 months of sobriety, and had embarrassed myself at an AA meeting the day before. At most AA meetings someone reads a selection from the “How It Works” chapter of AA’s basic text “Alcoholic Anonymous”. I slurred my words and it was quite clear I was under the influence. That day’s topic was me and relapsing.

The next day I went back to that AA meeting and it was a newcomer’s meeting. I felt like a hypocrite telling 2 new people how the 12 Steps helped me so I walked out and stopped off at a liquor store before going home. I finished the bottle that night.

What followed were 88 hours of insomnia and hallucinations. I wrote about it last year in a post here . The changes in my life since that post have been astonishing. I met a lady, moved to be near her, married her and found a rewarding job.

I guess “hope” is the operative word here. There is hope if you stick it out.

No matter how good or how bad, drinking is never an option.

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2 Comments

  1. Keep coming back. As for showing up drunk at a meeting, I’ve known a few men who were able to manage only that for a while before they “got it” and started putting the bottle down with increasing regularity until the days turned into years of sobriety.If I can ever be of any help let me know.

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