One thing that's easy to forget is that my new-found sobriety was rather threatening to my drinking buddies.
They wished me well, but they cut a pretty wide path around me.
Some of them have drunk themselves to death and, i am afraid, others will.
I was known as the local drunk lawyer.
But that was then.
I have been sober long enough now that almost no one thinks of me that way.
I'm the lawyer who talks to groups of attorneys, judges, law students and others about alcoholism and addiction that the avenues for seeking help with those problems.
Miraculously, I ceased being the poster child for the awful consequences of alcohol and drugs and became, instead, many peoples' image of what recovery can be.
I ain't saying any of that to create the impression that i am a smart guy when it comes to drinking and using.
But i know where the answers are and i have successfully found help in living with my addictions.