What…Me Sober?

Hi, My name is Bill. I’m an alcoholic, addict and codependent.  My sobriety date is September 14th, 1989.

In short: Been there, done that.

I’ve been writing about recovery in a variety of places for some years. A couple of years ago I started a blog related to Buddhism, and incorporated a bunch of articles and essays that I’d written as sort of a sideline. Those pages have gotten a bunch of hits, and a couple of the articles are quite popular around the Web, especially the one on Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS).

It always bothered me, though, that the recovery stuff was relegated to a inner page of the site, and that it wasn’t in a location that could easily be found by anyone who was interested in addiction and alcoholism. Information like that saved my life, and might well have gotten me into treatment sooner, had I known about things such as the disease concept and similar matters.

Finally I determined to get the links out where they could be found.  You can find them under the tab “Articles” at the top of the page, arranged according to Early Recovery, Family and Friends, and so forth. I’ll be adding to them from time to time, so check back occasionally.

As for me personally, I’m married to another recovering drunk who works in the field. I have two daughters, two granddaughters, two black cats, too small a retirement fund, and too many years under my belt — but considering that I should have been dead twenty or so years ago, who’s complaining? There’s only one cure for old age, far as I know, and I ain’t buyin’.

Over the years I’ve been an ocean lifeguard, pilot, cop, gunsmith, worked as a security guard, a professional chauffeur, as a drug-testing tech, a detox tech and cook, a rehab counselor, and some other things that are none of your business. I like to think of myself as “semi-retired.” For fun I take pictures, read, birdwatch, spend time with my wife, family and friends, and catch the occasional movie or meal out.

I am agnostic by nature, in the literal sense (I don’t know, and neither do you), and practice the Middle Way by preference — if rather unskillfully.