My name is Thomas. I am an alcoholic. I am an alcoholic who has not had a drop of alcohol since February 2nd, 1999. I never planned on being a drunk. Like many teenagers, I started drinking at a seventh- grade dance. I’ll never forget, my first taste of alcohol was that of straight vermouth. As the years went by, my taste for alcohol only increased. By the time I was seventeen or eighteen, I was drinking regularly. With the drinking, came problems with family, school and the law. Every job that I worked at included after- work drinking with co- workers.
Between the after- work drinking and playing in local rock and roll bands at night for several years, by the time I reached age thirty, I was a drunk. Even with repeated problems with family members, girlfriends and employers, all related to my drinking, I denied that there was a problem and only drank more. With the grace of God, the last time I had a drink was February 2nd, 1999. Getting sober has provided many changes in my life. Listed here are just some of the ways that getting sober has changed my life.
A) My life no longer revolves around the opening and closing times of liquor stores.
B) I don’t hang out in bars, with so- called friends, every night, like I used to.
C) My breath no longer smells like booze.
D) My clothes no longer smell like booze.
E) I no longer have to always carry two cans of beer, or’nips’ of booze with me, in case I go somewhere where no liquor is avaiable.
F) Even though I still regularly chew bubble gum, I no longer have to carry an assortment of mints, Funyun’s(R) and other breath- clouding products, in an attempt to mask the odor of alcohol.
G) I no longer have ‘tabs’, or credit- accounts, usually with large balances, owed to bar and liquor store owners.
H) I can remember what I said and did the night before.
I) I don’t wake up and throw- up.
J) I don’t wake up and drink a beer.
K) I don’t drive drunk.
L) I don’t miss work or appointments, because I’m drunk, or hung- over.
M) I don’t call people on the telephone late at night, anymore.
N) I have developed a closer relationship with God, as I understand him.
O) I have discovered and re- discovered the joys of drinking beverages such as; sodas, fruit juices, coffee, Boost(R), milkshakes and water.
P) Connecticut has a beverage- deposit law. I no longer need to save bags full of nasty, empty beer cans and bottles.
Q) No longer, do I pass- out on a regular basis.
R) I have re- discovered the joy of going to bed at night and going to sleep, and remembering it.
S) Life has become simpler.
These are just some of the ways that my getting sober has changed my life.
