My name is David, and I am an alcoholic.

I am very glad to be here in a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. After more than twelve years of sobriety, I am still not quite sane, still feel fear, still sometimes dishonest, frequently selfish, and occasionally even resentful. But you know, I have a program today. I am a person in recovery and there is a lot of progress, even enough for me to see it. When I started, I used to drive around and shout at people who were not present. People I was burned up at because mostly they could not handle how unpleasant it had become to be near me when I was drinking and using. The nerve! They had left me to finish the argument (you all know about the argument?) by myself. In the fellowship of AA, I met other people in recovery. People like me who were not just french fried, they were crinkle cut. And I loved everyone I met in AA, but sometimes I could not stand them. We are so fierce, so confused, so eager to pick a fight, or sustain one. But we are so .......interesting. It's as if most of the people you meet are only extras in the movie of life, but the people in recovery are brightly colored. They are three-dimensional. They are with us on the broad highway, in the shipwreck, in the garden that is recovery, with the help of God. I once heard a woman say in a meeting, "....and that's the funny thing about stealing an airplane -- where do you put it?" Where else would you hear such a thing? I love you all just as you are and know that you feel the same about me until it is time to claw one another's eyes. And even that we do with love.

Thank you for letting me share.
- David