Taz, while your post explains your opinion it still seems as if you are comparing our experiences.
You state that I am an alcoholic that quit while the quitting was good....I am not sure how to respond to that....how many more years beyond the 15 years that I was a slave to the bottle would qualify me as a full blown alcoholic? You state that you were further progressed in the disease than I was...how did you come to that conclusion? Is it the number of years that I drank that leads you to this conclusion? I don't believe that drinking time has much to do with the progression. I met a woman in aa who drank for 2 years, after gastric bypass surgery....she in those 2 years was drinking around the clock...kept a bottle on her night stand so she could take a swig when she woke up in the middle of the night. I never drank like that....truth be told I never drank in the morning.....I didn't wake up and have a shot of rum or a beer to start my day like she did...yet she drank for only 2 years. To me it would seem that length of time drinking has little to do with qualification into the "full blown alcoholic" club.
I admit your post leaves me once again puzzled.