My name is George, and I'm an alcoholic.

If not for a Power greater than myself, and the Third Tradition of Alcoholics Anonymous, I would either be dead, in jail, or in a nut house due to my use and abuse of alcohol and drugs. I come from a very messed-up family. Both parents are dually addicted, and I was emotionally and physically abused as a child. I liked the taste of alcohol from the very beginning, and I liked where it took me. I used alcohol as a way to escape the situation in which I was living. I was pretty much an occasional drinker, but a situation drunk. That is, if I found myself in a situation in which I could not cope, and I took the first drink, I'd be off on a running drunk. Also, I had emotional blackouts, or gray-outs, whenever I was under an enormous amount of stress. I'd never been in a hospital, car accident, or jail due to the use and abuse of alcohol. I thought I was too young, but when I was 23 years old I realized there was definitely something wrong with George. I called a place I had heard about and asked ... begged ... them to let me get in. I was there for thirty hard days, and it was there I was first introduced to the Twelve Steps. Though I still couldn't see myself as being an alcoholic, I learned a lot of useful things along with a new way of life. The end result was that I was told if I wanted to keep what I had found while I was there, I had to go to AA. I've been going to AA meetings ever since. I have been sober since July 19, 1974, and I've had a lot of ups and downs. Mostly downs. But I do the best I can one day at a time, and try to carry the message as best I can.

- George