I got sober at 21 after a five-day coke and alcohol bender. I remember knocking on my parents' bedroom door and saying, "I'm ready." They got out of bed and stayed awake with me until the hospital would take me. I was completely shot. I didn't want to live, and I didn't want to die.
I spent 90 days in rehab, where I turned 21, and I got out on my dad's birthday, 12/1/1987. I went to AA, but I didn't listen. I got two jobs, a girlfriend, and plenty of excuses.
I drank for the last time on 1/23/1988, after falling out of a moving car onto a busy Long Island road trying to throw up. I'm lucky to be alive.
More than 38 years later, I'm still sober and still learning. I'm writing down what happened, what has helped me, and what I still get wrong.
What I write, and who it's for
Sober Through the Years is writing about sobriety as I've lived it — what happens after the pink cloud fades and ordinary life shows up. AA is part of my story, but this publication is independent and does not speak for AA. People find recovery in different ways, whether or not they ever walk into a meeting.
I'm not a counselor, a clinician, or a spokesperson for anything. I'm one alcoholic writing honestly about staying sober, one day at a time.
It works if you work it.