Post Number 1 Obsession

I am just an alcoholic with 24 years of meeting adventures. I go to AA meetings almost every day. Every time I go I hear new "stuff" that really needs documentation. Like yesterday when a friend told of hiding her vodka in plain sight. She loved to wash dishes and was always in the kitchen. So she would fill her glass with vodka then place silverware in the glass as if it was ready to be washed. No one ever bothered her "dirty" glass and she was able to drink to her hearts content. Many of us who are real alcoholics found a need to hide the booze thinking no one would ever find out that we were drinking. Even when we were slurring our words or passing out drunk, we would still think that no one knew. Drinking was our little secret. I think the art of getting away with secret drinking is almost as addicting as the actual act of drinking.  I once heard a story of someone who hide their booze in the kitty litter box because no one would ever think of looking there! I never hid my alcohol. I was proud to be a drinker. I was just like my Dad. Booze bottles everywhere. One time my second wife was trying to show me how sick I was with my drinking. She was yelling about something then suddenly threw open the refrigerator door and said, "Not everyone has three bottles of tequila in the fridge!" My reply was "I guess most people don't know how good tequila is when it is cold." That made perfect sense to me at the time but today with 24 years sobriety, I realize just how sick I was. I was obsessed by alcohol. Worse than that for me, I didn't even know I was obsessed, I thought my actions were normal. Thank God I found my way into Alcoholics Anonymous. The program and the people in AA showed me that there was a better way to live. They told me that if I just did not drink one day at a time, went to meetings and worked the steps that I would never have to drink again. When I heard those words I thought, "I'll never GET to drink again". Today I am so grateful that the obsession to drink has abated. Today I am grateful that I have found a Power Greater than myself that allows me to live alcohol free.