Hello my name is Allen and I am an alcoholic.

Truly grateful to be here tonight sober. When I arrived at Alcoholics Anonymous, I was fully aware of the second half of the First Step. My life was unmanageable. The world seemed to be closing in on me. Betrayed friends were now turning their backs. Past illicit actions were coming to light. I despised what I had become. I freely admitted that I was a drunk ... "A Heavy Hitter" ... "A Pounder" ... "A Party Animal." These descriptions never bothered me, but don't you dare tell me I'm an alcoholic! No way! Hey, those poor suckers just didn't know how to drink! Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions calls alcohol the "rapacious creditor." Webster's dictionary defines rapacious as: Feeds on live prey; ravenous; voracious; plundering. It certainly had me in the midst of a fatal progression. Already dead from the neck up, a shell of a human being, I knew I was powerless. But did not know over what. Then, I was introduced to a Power greater than myself. The Group of Drunks, the Fellowship of AA reached out to me, and I grabbed on like a drowning man. They said I was not a bad person, just a very sick one, and to get well, I had to begin like any other journey with the First Step. I admitted that I was an alcoholic. It was like a great weight was lifted off my shoulders. I knew what I was. Now, I had to learn who I was. And for the first time in years, I felt hope. I was no longer alone in this quest. The first word of the First Step is "We." I love AA. It has given me a chance at life.

Thank you all for being here.