I was born in Blythville, Ar. in 1952 and have moved around a bit but always found my way back to central Ar.
I stayed with my grandparents a lot when I was a kid and Papa was my idol. Papa was foreman on a large farm paralleling the Missisppi River. He took me everywhere and let me do whatever...and just laughed about it. He was a man's man and drinking was just part of living. So at a very young age I was introduced to Apricot Brandy and white lightning.
I did not like the white lightning but the Apricot Brandy was sooooo good.
For many years my drinking was fantastic. I drank with little or no bad consquences. Being a small person with a sharp tongue as a defense mechanism, booze just made me feel 10 feet tall. Nothing like an ego maniac with an inferiority complex full of booze.
Life was good, I met a wonderful young woman and by the age of seventeen was married and had a gorgeous baby boy. Only in Arkansas LOL does one get these advantages. Before you get ahead of the story that young lady is still my wife and we will have been together 38 years in January.
I had my share of car crashes and motorcycle wrecks while under the care of alcohol. Had I not been so polluted and limber from the wonderful sedation I would probably be dead today. Of course had I been sober in the first place the above two sentences would not have been in this paragraph.
Early drinking and smoking had given me much pleasure, laughter, joy, fond memories and a fast track on life.
Later drinking and smoking had given me much pain, tears, sadness, lonelyness and the last 5 years of being holed up in the house as a petrified daily drunk morning till passout time.
Three major surgeries, the last being a 5 by-pass heart surgery. You get a lot of strange looks from folks when your in Cardiac Rehab trying to walk on a tread mill drunk....LOL
My drinking continued along with many of lifes little tricks on us Alkies until November 3, 2006.
Today I have a home group and visit many surrounding meetings each week. My head still has not cleared from the fog but it is better. I still have to deal with the comittee in my head each day...but it is better. My sponsor is a great stength in AA for me to lean and grow with.
My love for my wife has grown more in the last year than I could have ever dreamed.
Life is good, keep coming back
a
friend
