Originally Posted by
desypete 
i wouldnt worry to much about saying your recovering at 34 years sober we have a member of 50 years who says he is just an alcoholic and still recovering in fact we have 10 or more members in my small town who are 35 to 50 years sober and there all still recovering
there wisdom is based on the fact they have seen too many people come and go in aa and back on the drink etc and the ones who do come back after drinking again never say they had a good time or anything got better for them infact it was always worse
so there smart enough to understand the illness of alcoholism they are not recovered simply because they know its just for today they are sober as it might be there turn tomorrow for something bad to happen in there life or anything really and bingo they pick up that first drink again and off it goes
i have known many people in AA who used to say they are recovered and they went back out on the drink again and they will not come back to AA because of there hurt pride as they would have to face people again who they were telling them that there recovered
so its a dangerous thing in my head as the pride must keep a lot of people away who drank again
I have known many people in AA who have said those alcoholics are not like me and they went back out and the illness killed them.
I have been living sober for 28 years and 2 months today and I am 82.
The oldest in my group is 92 and he has 56 years. He has a photo of himself hugging Bill Wilson.
Our illness killed two of my daughters and they were just like me. My love for them is a major gift.
I am a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who saw Lou Puller, Jr. in AA meetings. He lost his legs and most of his fingers in Nam. HE weighed 50 lbs in the hospital bed. His father, winner of 5 navy crosses wept when he saw his son. Lou Jr. came home, got a law degree, got sober. Then his illness killed him with suicide.
Our illness wants us dead. I got drunk, we stay sober.
