I used to despise the holidays. Look how everyone acts on Black Friday. Pushing, sleeping overnight and fighting in parking lots … no problem with self-righteousness here!

Several years ago on a bitterly cold Friday night, I went to my first AA meeting. I was new in town and wasn’t properly dressed for that night’s subzero temperatures.

My sober date is Thanksgiving of 1973. At that time, my two sons and I were living in Lakeland, Florida. It was in fact the last time I had a drink of alcohol.

I have so many bad memories about the holidays before coming into AA. But the truth is, I don’t remember a lot of those holidays.

I had my first drink at age 17. Mind you, it was just a couple of sips of champagne, but my young body was not immune to the effects even at that small amount.

I was blessed to have gotten sober in Anchorage, Alaska, where AA meetings are held at nearly all hours of the day. Meetings have always been a key part of my sobriety.

This story is about our district accessibilities committee and what happened last summer. And what a summer we had! We had no idea what effect our project would have.

A dear AA friend and former sponsor and I decided to have lunch together.

Long before I began developing my qualifications for membership in AA, I was a member of the Boy Scouts. The Scouts tried to teach me to live by a set of principles.

In May 1956, a doctor who was a Marine veteran from WWII, brought his medical bag home with him so he could give a first aid class to his daughter’s Girl Scout troop.

My friend and I drank together. We were young brides with little children, and we were adapting to life after having married farmer brothers. For us, having fun always included drinks.

At the end of my drinking, my son was 9 years old and completely frustrated with his father’s drinking.

It was a mild Minnesota February afternoon, and we were gathered with family and friends to bring diapers for our first grandson.

I sobered up in January of 1977. Since that time, I have lived in five states and two countries.

One of my regular AA meetings recently celebrated 45 years of existence.

I started drinking at 16 and did it consistently for 18 years, mostly alone. I was and am what people might call different.

I would wake up, drink, shower, maybe drink some more and then start my day—drinking. It seemed pretty normal for a 16-year-old boy, right?

Age 21, I celebrated my first sober anniversary at an AA meeting in Williamstown, Massachusetts. I shared my story for 20 minutes, crying the whole time.

I had never been closer to a drink in my year and a half of sobriety as I was that day. I had worked the Steps and sponsored other men.