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My
Name is Lou B. and I am an Alcoholic
Welcome Newcomers!!
I
was born in Ohio and had my first drink at the age of nine years.
I remember the way I felt at the time...sick and the lights
spinning out-of-control. It's true that alcohol is cunning,
baffling, and powerful, because even though the effects were
unpleasant, I began stealing drinks off of my Mom's kitchen table
when she had parties. Dad was a bartender and Mom had been a
cocktail waitress for years. My oldest sister used to babysit us
a lot in those days. There were six of us children, 4 girls and 2
boys, and I was the oldest boy.
I remember way back on my grandpa's farm, deep in the woods of
Ohio. You had to drive through several hollows to get to my
grandpa's place. The farm next to his had moonshine and all of us
kids always wanted to visit that farm....and we did....a lot! The
guy that owned it used to give us hits off of his jug of booze. I
don't think you've ever experienced alcohol until you have tried
some moonshine.
We swam a lot in those days, and then lay out (or passed out)
from the booze we drank. We never got caught because Mom, and
whoever she was with at the time, was always too smashed to find
out.
In 1958, we moved from Ohio to California. I went to many
different schools because we moved a lot. Money was scarce
because Mom seemed to drink all the money up. At the age of 15, I
stopped going to school to go to work and help out the family. My
Mom got divorced 8 times in those years. Also at the age of 15, I
began drinking in bars down in the San Pedro area. I was hardly
ever checked for underage since I looked older than 15.
I got married for the first time at the age of 21. We had 3 fine
sons, all of which are good looking like their father. <VBG>
My new father-in-law got me into being a seafood chef. I was real
good at that, and I worked at the Hungry Tiger Rest for 18 years,
cooking in front of the customers. All of those years, I kept
watching the bartender making drinks for my customers. I began
taking drinks with them while I cooked. It wasn't long before I
became the bartender.
In 1985, I got caught driving home drunk from work...not once,
but three times! That is not a good thing in Southern California.
I spent 9 months in jail on a one year term. I was court-ordered
to "drunk school" and Alcoholics Anonymous. As I said I
did 9 months in jail, and the first thing I did when I hit the
street on March 3, 1986 was to drink real good. I was sent back
to court and the judge issued an ultimatum--either I go to A.A.
meetings or GO TO PRISON!! I figured, "No Way!" and so
on May 1, 1986 I went to my first A.A. meeting at the Torrance
Alano Club. I stayed another 90 days in Torrance and then moved
to San Pedro and began attending 5 meetings a day.
I got my first sponsor when I was six months sober and he helped
me travel through the 12 Steps of recovery. I have been sober
ever since. At one year of sobriety, I became the club manager
and I did that for three and a half years. I then moved to
Lancaster, saved money and bought the computer I have now.
And now here I am...sober, alive, and working with other
alcoholics daily. I know that all I can do is to share my
experience, strength, and hope and to remember my total defeat at
the hands of King Alcohol. I thank God every day that I found
this higher power concept. I know today that He works in His own
time and NOT in mine. I also know that I must remember the
beginning of my sobriety and go to any lengths for victory over
alcohol. I know that I create my own problems and that the A.A.
program works...and my program doesn't.
Thanks for letting me share my story with you. Thank God for one
more day.
Lou B.
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©Copyright
1998-2000 by Lou B. All
rights reserved. This page is privately maintained and is in no way
affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous or any other organization or
institution. The views and/or opinions are solely my own and does not
represent the views or opinions of any organization.
Last
edited on: May 01, 2004
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