The man at the podium, sober some 30 years, seemed like the nicest guy in the world. He had the appearance of a mild mannered professor, a gentle spirit who probably had never put anything into his system stronger than a cup of coffee.
Yet the story he told of his drinking career would have made a great TV drama. Robberies, driving drunk, jail, fights, being raised in a family beset by murder and suicide were all part of his upbringing.
Then, much later, when he was an adult, a girlfriend told him he was an alcoholic - a connection he’d never made. He started going to 12-step meetings and his life transformed.
How does it happen that an intelligent human being can’t connect the dots? That he can’t see that his problems are related to alcohol? Sometimes all we know is what we see when we’re coming up.
Missionaries raise missionaries. Educated people raise intelligent kids. And drunks raise children who believe that alcohol is a way of life – that’s what happened to our speaker.
Later he believed he used alcohol for its medicinal effect. Incredibly, he thought that was the only thing keeping him sane. After all, if you had his childhood you’d drink too.
But since he stopped drinking his life transformed. He’s a key executive with a large company. He’s obtained an advance degree. He hasn’t been in a jail or in a fight and he hasn’t stolen anything.
Another 12-step miracle.
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