today is Jan 4

[oldhippydude]

what that means to me is that i now have been sober 33 years.. in 1979 i went to my first aa meeting, and have been sober scince.. i pretty much spent my 20's more or less continously intoxicated, with a healthy dose of canabis, and other drugs of the time.. curiosly i was abale to walk away from the drugs, but not the alcohol.. (and of course tobacco was yet another story)

i sobered up at age 32, and with todays birthday that means i have now been clean and sober for a little over half my life.. funny thing how if you drank like i did, the first little while of your recovery is burned in your memory.. 79 was like this year the first fell on sunday, and i remeber walking into the club drinking weak coffee with shaking hands, and being welcomed.. going to at least 3 meetings that day.. the last being a speaker meeting

ironically i didnt mark the date down, in fact i was able to reconstruct the date by months end, only becuase of the meetings that day.. the last wednesday of the month, was a birthday meetings.. these are always start out with the oldest, on down.. i think that month there was someone around 20 years, who i lisntend too, folowed by more old farts.. the final speaker was a lady named sally, i listened in rapt attention to Sally, she had a year... an amount of time i could only dream of..

the years have been good to me.. while i do today suffer with some medical issues.. the fact remains i would not be alive today had i not got sober.. i can thank folks like Bill & Dr Bob for my life, as well as folks like many of you..

today i will hit a noon time A A meeting, then this evening my local Nicotine Anonymous meeting, to pick up an 8 year chip there.. all in all a big day in a big week.. thanks for this forum.. and a place to share i am gratefull to be here..

please forgive any faux pas in spelling, as i am dyselexic ..

[NMDemDist2]

1. You are a miracle olddude!!

[oldhippydude]

2. thankyou neighbor

perhaps we can grab a cup of coffee togehter someday

[NMDemDist2]

3. absolutely!!!

maybe at a service function some day eh??

[cordelia]

4. Congratulations!

I missed my meeting tonight - work related issues - but this helps make up for it.

Thanks for sharing your experience - it's an inspiration to this relative newcomer (just shy of 19 months).

[irisblue]

5. wow...

one day at a time still/is happening. thanks for your sharing. save a chair for me in the meeting room okay?

[tavalon]

6. You may be dyslexic (me too!) but you are also a hero

I'm a relapsed codependent, actually I now qualify for Nar anon. Whatever. It's the same. I thought I was better and then I invited my ex husband to stay with me to find a job. Three months later, I was in the codependent zone, he's back with his other enablers and I'm back at meetings.

I'm on step one again. At least this time, I know how to get out of the hole and get started up the really tall mountain. I wonder if it was better to be ignorant. It seems a little easier this time, like I'm reminding myself instead of learning like a baby.

You're still working the program. You're great.

[cally]

7. Happy Birthday

one day at a time adds up!

[demosincebirth]

8. Congratulations!! you got me by 3 months.

[oldhippydude]

9. thanks evryone

it is in fact one day at a time.. although the days get easier as do the years.. remember an old timer reponding to a newcomer.. "dont drink, dont die".. sounds simple.. the good news is tht with the steps and the people in the program it works