8 years sober. I have 8 years as of yesterday.
Holy shit. That is a long time.
I’ve posted here in the past the whole story. I’m not going to rehash all that this time around.
I will say this, in case anyone with a drinking or drug problem happens across this thread.
You can get and stay sober. And if you do, the results are amazing. A.A. can be a wonderful resource to help if you need it.
I now live a clean and sober life. I have an amazingly hot girlfriend. Seriously. She is stunning. And sweet. And my beautiful girl. I am, as soon as I can get the rings, going to propose. We are planning on an outdoor wedding. Small, just family and close friends. The honeymoon will be on an island. Not sure which one yet. The one thing I do know is that my sweet girl is going to be absolutely stunning on our wedding day. She is the most beautiful woman in the world. And she is a sweet, special woman.
And she wants to have a baby. I am all in for this plan. We will have to do some work, she had her tubes tied, but it will happen. I hope for a boy. She wants a girl. But no matter which flavor we have, it will be our child to love.
Today at work I had a discussion with my boss. He basically said that I will be getting a promotion, assuming he can get the position created, and a 12% or so pay bump. I kick ass at my job (network admin) and I like it.
My house is filled with love. We have 4 dogs, three cats and one fish. One of our fish died so we are down to just one. The animals are all a bit freaky. The dogs are Chinese Cresteds. Two of the cats are sisters and rock. The newest cat is a munchkin. He is freaking adorable, especially when he does his ‘I am attack kitty! All shall fear me!’ bit.
We have a nice house for our zoo. A good neighborhood. The place needs some work, nothing major except for the backyard. But we have time.
Things, of course, are not perfect. They never are. But the crushing fear, loneliness and self loathing I used to live in are all gone.
I am able, these days, to help my friends and family instead of being a burden. My family and friends love and trust me.
I am still working on myself. Taking classes for certifications and reevaluating my priorities and thinking. Some of the reeavluations can be tough. Some lead to habits that need to be changed or things that need to be left in the past*. But they allow me to work on the things I need to so that I can be a better person. That means a lot to me these days.
I wake up every morning glad to be alive. I hold dear to my heart my family and friends. I am far from perfect but the path I am on is one of progress, not perfection and I am progressing.
And for today, at least, I am clean and sober.
Slee
*One of those things, sadly, is the 'Dope. I am not sure if I will be around much longer. It seems to me that this place has changed and I no longer enjoy it as much as I used to a few years ago. It seems to me that this place has lost a lot of the respect that used to exist for opinions that differed from the boards liberal bent. It seems more hostile. And it seems, to me at least, that a lot of the 'Dopers who I respected (even if I disagreed with them) have disappeared. I’d rather not turn this thread into a bitch fest about the 'Dope but felt the need to post this somewhere.
