Unexpected Gifts

I spent nearly a decade directing patients to the doors of AA before I found my way there myself. As a family physician and the daughter and granddaughter of alcoholics, I was well aware of the telltale signs of alcoholism. But other than the occasional guilt I felt over my drinking binges, I'd never answered affirmatively to the usual screening questions: no one had ever suggested to me that I needed to cut down in my consumption; I had never indulged in an eye-opener; I never drank alone.