Not so old

LAST year I celebrated my 30th AA birthday. I started drinking heavily in my mid-teens, started trying to get sober in my early twenties, and I took my last drink when I was 27. At that point I could not go for more than a few hours without drinking, and I could not drink for more than a few days without getting put into an institution. I could no longer make it to work, to family events, or even--on occasion--to the bathroom. I was a physical and emotional wreck, I was an obvious danger to myself and others, and right up until the end I still didn't think I was that bad. I wasn't shooting drugs, for example, nor was I homeless. I had an apartment, albeit a pretty empty one, and I still had a car, which I continued to drive in spite of losing my license to a DWI. But at the lowest point in my life, I became willing to do anything to not live like that anymore. As I've since seen, no matter where you are on the "sick" continuum, as long as you understand "pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization" you can get off the impending train wreck of your life and get sober.