Friends of Recovery - New Hampshire

P.O. Box 295 Concord NH 03302

My Story
Text Box: I'm not quite sure where to begin, but I have no doubt that I became alcoholic after my first drink. I don't have any funny stories to tell as I did most of my drinking by myself. I do remember my earliest drinking experiences ended when I blacked out or passed out. My friends weren't affected like I was. I just figured I drank more than they did. I guess I started at 16 and only when I went off to college did my drinking take off. I flunked out of school after my first semester with a 0.9091 GPA. I was drinking daily and feeling like a tremendous failure. I returned to school, commuting three hours daily and because I had moved back home with my folks, my drinking took place only on weekends and my grades improved dramatically. After three semesters of commuting I became a Resident Assistant and began living on campus again. My career as an RA ended after three semesters and my grades again began to fall as my problems due to alcohol continued to grow. I was not permitted to live on campus for disciplinary reasons and in my small apartment I began to drink and use marijuana daily. I was convicted of my first and only DWI that fall. Later that year I broke my hand while in a blackout and remember lying to my parents about how it happened. My grades continued to spiral and eventually I dropped out of school. I took a job as a cook in a local restaurant and because my shift never began prior to 1:00PM, my alcohol problems weren't as pronounced. That summer my car died and I was living in a house with no hot water (it was later torn down.) I felt like my life was over as I had no degree and no job skills. A friend from work asked me to move in with her and her boyfriend, my parents bought me a car and I got a much better job working in a music store selling stereo equipment. My roommates took me to my first AA meeting. My only recollection of that AA meeting was that nearly everyone smoked; I figured if they can't stop smoking AA must not work. I was not permitted to keep alcohol in the house, so my marijuana use increased and I began drinking in a bar within walking distance. I moved closer to work and again my alcohol use became daily once again. I frequently went to work drunk and drank on the job. At age 25 I met a wonderful woman and continued my drug and alcohol abuse. After a year she moved out and I wound up being committed to a state mental institution. I was drinking nearly a fifth of vodka daily. I now believe I was misdiagnosed as manic-depressive. I attended AA meetings regularly but did not believe my problems were due to alcohol. I remained sober for ten months but did not attend AA meetings. I went to work at a bank, commuted three hours daily and did very well. I moved from my parent's house and thought I had figured out my problems. My life seemed normal and I had somehow learned to control my drinking, doing so only on weekends. At age 30 I met two women, who were both in AA, through my job at the bank. I was living in a nice apartment, playing softball every weekend and working seven days per week at the bank and my old music store during the "off-season." One of them came to visit me and after seeing me "in action" for a weekend told me she didn't think I had a problem. Nonetheless, she left a copy of the Big Book and I read through it. At that point I realized that my brief periods of success during my life had occurred during periods where my drinking had been curtailed. So at age thirty I figured I'd give AA a shot. I had nothing to lose. On September 9, 1993 I got sober. On October 10th I moved to Derry, NH and attended an AA meeting the next day. I had lived in Maine my entire life and was hoping to turn my life around. I attended a meeting nearly every day, sold raffle tickets, went on commitments and got on my knees every morning to ask for God's help staying away from a drink for that day. At night I got on my knees and thanked him. I've now been sober for over six years; I've lived in the same apartment for four years and worked the same job for five. I've coached basketball, umpired little league and was nominated to be "Big Brother of the Year." I'm now a treasurer for an AA group and chairperson for a newsletter committee. I work the steps to the best of my ability; I've done a fifth step with a Priest and meet with my sponsor frequently. I've achieved success and made friendships. I never dreamt any of this was possible. I used to wish I had gotten sober at an earlier age, but now I realize I got sober just when I was supposed to. I owe it all to God, the people in AA and my family.