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This is my story as I told it last night at my home group for the first time since getting sober.   God I ask that you go before me tonight and show us the way of patience, tolerance, kindness and love.   It was a dark and stormy night. Just kidding!  I heard long ago that line was the most popular opening line in literature.  So I just had to use it! Seriously though, my sobriety date this time, and hopefully the last time, is September 1, 2017.  For that I am eternally grateful. It was a long and circuitous path to get where

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Dear Victoria, Today, you turn 23 years old. You have reached a major pinnacle in your life, but it has only just begun. I eagerly wait with anticipation to see what your life has in store for you. Of all the things I am capable of giving you today, I feel my words are the most valuable and I wish someone had shared these thoughts with me when I was your age. These are exciting times for you: finishing college, starting a career, dating, marriage, having kids. The possibilities are endless. But, I’m not going to lie. At times, life is going to get rough.

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I am a firm believer in AA and what it can do for a person.  I have been in and out of the rooms of AA for the last 10 years.  I never really wanted to be there or had any intentions of putting in the effort required to accomplish sobriety.  There were times I showed up at meetings after drinking on the way there and times I stopped on the way home afterwards.  Because of that, among many other reasons which I have detailed in other posts, it has taken me 10 years to maintain any sense of sobriety.  As of this writing, I

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I have gotten to where I always take some notes during my daily meetings.  Normally it is just a slogan or saying that catches my attention.  Sometimes it is more than that.  I want to keep them somewhat together so I don’t have to dig back through my journal to find them.  So here they are.  My hope is that someone out there will find a nugget or two that they can use as well. If they didn’t ask the question they didn’t want the answer. How do YOU use your gratitude If I were to be put on trial, would I be convicted of

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I have always liked this song.  Hearing it again for the first time in sobriety, really changes the meaning for me.  During the holidays, it is the time to Paint the Town Beige!  Perfect example of this in my life came Saturday night.  After church we went to a Christmas party with our gym at a local restaurant.  They messed up the reservations so the tables weren’t ready when we got there.  So of course everyone was gathered around the bar.  No issues there.  I got my glass of water and stood around talking.  Everyone started migrating over to bar tables while we were waiting

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We had a really good meeting this morning.  The topic was how to handle the holidays.  The person who brought up the topic has had multiple relapses during this time period.  He has been sober for multiple years now.  Like me, he is always wanting to learn new ways at maintaining his sobriety.  I personally didn’t have much to offer since this is basically my first Christmas season in sobriety.  I believe I am in a good place mentally and spiritually right now.  The Christmas season has never been a huge drinking time for me.  There were a few where that wasn’t the case.  The

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What a great and momentous day for me.  90 days of continuous sobriety.  I picked up my coin at the noon meeting today.  My sponsor was there to give it to me.  Our topic today was just as appropriate.  “Why are the steps suggested?”  I know for me, they are not a suggestion.  They are mandatory and required for me to get and stay sober.  For the last 8 years I did treat them as a suggestion.  Which means I either didn’t do them or if I did, I did them half ass.  And I can tell you first hand, half measures get me nothing

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I know, I know.  I am running behind this week on posting.  It has been a busy 7 or 8 days since my last post.  With Thanksgiving and all that goes with it, I was pretty busy.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I spent all day Wednesday cooking and prepping for Thursday so we could spend as much time as possible with family.  It was tiring, but so worth it.  The only people who weren’t here were my daughter (working – damn early black Friday) and my parents (who probably wouldn’t have came anyway).  We had my Father/Mother in law, my two married step-daughters and

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The following are sage words of wisdom that have caught my attention from meetings over the last week or so.  I will also throw in my thoughts on them. Cannot allow alcoholism to become aa-ism. You must live life on life terms  –  You obviously cannot ignore life.  It is going to come at you regardless of what you do.  You can’t hide at meetings 24/7! My life is different and the terms are different At ease not diseased drinker  –  I am not sure exactly how I feel about this one.  We are diseased, but we are definitely at ease! Serenity is in direct

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It has been a good couple of days and I have a lot to be grateful for.  There are the obvious things; my wife, my sobriety, my family (both AA and normal).  Then there are the not so obvious or little things that happen from time to time.  Things like spending time with my kids and grandkids and not thinking about when or how I can find or sneak a drink.  Also there is the complete lack of stress at home when my wife and I have to go separate ways from time to time.  Normally this would have been met with agitation and apprehension