Carrying the Message
Out of nine members of the family, the present picture is: four dead from alcoholism (including my mother). A brother is doing a life sentence, on the installment plan: thirty --sixty --ninety days at a time, in the county workhouse for chronic intoxication.
Anyway, life is good and God provides for all of my needs, and some of my wants. If I can continue to be grateful for all that He has done for me, I shall never ask for more. Funny how it works: you start out seeking the answer to the drinking problem and, if you stay with it, you find the answers to life itself. I'm glad I didn't know in the beginning what would be required of me, for I couldn't have found the courage within myself to make the trip.
My reason for being in AA is best illustrated by the man who said, "I have the idea that if I ever find myself in heaven, it will be from backing away from hell." I came to AA more to quit hurting than to quit drinking. The consequences of my drinking had become so severe, that I was ready to quit drinking, if necessary, to put an end to the nightmare life had become.
AA is a school of life, with everything there that you need to know, when you need to know it: the pre-kindergarten, the grades, the junior high, high, university and all the post-grad work you can handle. Your diploma and death certificate are one and the same.
