I knew I was in trouble quite a while before I actually stopped. There were several events that told me I was in trouble, but the one that stands out and really got my attention was when I tripped and knocked myself out on my concrete front steps at about 2 in the morning. I was out there for over an hour, in the cold (it was February in Wisconsin, but warmer than usual), until my ex-husband, who was at my house babysitting our son, woke up and realized I should have been home and went to investigate and found me out there. He got me into the house and into bed, and somehow in the morning I got up long enough to make sure the kid got to school (he walked to school). I laid in bed the next day with a severe concussion and a fractured skull (I didn't know that) barely able to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Called the ex and told him to come to the house when he was done working and take me to the emergency room. But I was so bad by then that we had to call an ambulance. They came and took one look and took me to the "big city" hospital 35 miles away, because our small-town hospital can't handle head injuries. I was in the hospital for 3 days. It scared me, but my sick alcoholic mind convinced me I tripped because the front steps were icy and dangerous and it was dark (all true, but not why I tripped). So I carried on a couple more years after that. But in the back of my mind, the rational part of my brain KNEW without a doubt that I was in big trouble. It took a 3rd DUI to finally drive it home that I had to quit, and I did, haven't had a drink since that arrest, almost 5 years ago.