The Priest, the Thief and Me

I attended my first AA meeting in 1981. I was 26 years old, two years out of graduate school, running my own company, employed in a field (sales) that I despised, doing a job I hated, working with people I didn’t like—and making tons of money. Though I didn’t know it, I held all those contradictions together with alcohol. What I did know was that booze was already becoming a problem. Several people suggested I take a look at my drinking. Finally, I called Central Office in Chicago. They directed me to a church basement in my South Side neighborhood.