Young, Sober, and Free

Growing up, I never felt as if I fit in. I drank to fit in, to escape and to just shut off the loud clatter that was going on in my head. I remember the warm feeling that came at once from that first drink. I identify with other AAs when they say that they felt bigger, stronger, and better looking after taking a drink. Growing up as an alcoholic teenager, I didn't have much. I didn't think alcohol would take away the little that I had left. My self-esteem, dignity, respect, and sense of self were thrown along the wayside for King Alcohol. When I finally arrived in AA, I was eighteen years old, barely passing high school, and had just beaten a manslaughter charge.