there is help if you ask for it. I would have never made it on my own.

It is simple, but it not easy...But it is doable.

Friday nights, end of the work week, were heavy drunk nights for him, until two in the morning when the bars closed.

One day, he just stopped drinking: Cold. No A.A., no priests, no doctors or hospital for rehab or detox. He just stopped drinking.

He also stopped cursing. Not so much as a hell or a damn.

And he went to 6 O'clock mass EVERY morning, until dementia set in and he couldn't drive anymore.

None of us every asked him why.

My sponsor was already quite ill when she joined AA in 2002, she said she believed that she'd never make it to "two digits." Not only did she make it to 16 years, reaching out and helping others along the way, including me. I took on the job of ordering the coins - and the first one I was privileged to give her was XII - which I told her was triple digits!

And I also am inspired from those coming behind me. One very scared young guy showed up at the meeting I chair last November. He's only in his 20s, but has been sober from that night. I gave him a 6 month coin when I received my 13 year - and already have a one-year coin with his name on it. His life has completely changed and he's an inspiration to the rest of us, too.

That’s probably what some of the posters up thread meant when they mentioned help.

15663 days in a row, here.

Sometimes (like during my first OCONUS deployment, for example, when I was 52 years old, 29 years sober), 24 hours has been *way* too much time to get through, so I’ve had to do life “from now, until chow.” (Hooray for midnight chow, eh?)

And then there have been times (like my third OCONUS deployment, again without a weapon) when I had to do my sobriety “one breath at a time.” {Thought bubble: “Breathe in, Tim; you know how not to drink when breathing in. Now breathe out; you know how not to drink when breathing out.” Repeat as needed.} And I had 33.5 years sober at that point, yet the compulsion to drink had returned, despite having done 90-in-90 prior to deploying.

So, yeah!! It can be really tough — and I can still choose, one breath at a time, when necessary — not to pick up that first drink.

I say again: Hooray for the Higher Power!!! Today is day 15663.

Thanks for sharing your experience, strength, and hope, Stuart G!

Don’t Ever Give Up.

Especially weekends. Just this Friday evening, I was making dinner. I really wanted to have a couple of vodka and tonics. Finally, after we ate, I did the dishes and went up to my bedroom. I finished the book I was reading. Then, I looked outside and the sky was gorgeous! So I walked down the street to get a better view and took some pix--to use later for reference to do a painting. I then watched a bit of comedy on tv and went to sleep.Turned out to be a decent evening after all.