Carrying the Message

I have been married twenty-five years but my wife and I have only spent ten Christmases together. The other fifteen I was drunk or in an institution. The ten Christmases that we have had have been since I accepted AA and worked it, day by day, twenty-four hours at a time. It hasn't been easy for me and never will be, but I know that if I ever return to alcohol it will mean my death or another institution.