Originally Posted by
Tai Shi
I quit alcohol about the time I quit smoking (not) because I really did not quit either, and I lost a job that I thought was my future and then I quit drinking. At 13 years with no alcohol my doctor told me that I has mild emphysema, and I found myself coughing up blood. The guys at my alcoholism support group all said, "I've quit almost everything, so I deserve smoke." One day my 10-year-old daughter ran home from school in tears saying, "Daddy, please quit smoking!" I did not quit smoking. There had been a hundred well-meaning people, tough-minded, no relief, people, and thousands of comments. Then one day I realized my sponsor was not smoking, and I started going to non-smoking groups just to try out what not smoking might feel like, and sometimes I would give away cartons of the stuff just to go out and buy one more carton. That was in the fall, and after Christmas I said, I'm going to quit and I decided to buy packs and remove one cigarette per day and end with the last cigarette the day before my little girl's birthday, all that fall before, that winter, that spring, I wrote a smoking journal, and I smoked the gum, oh I mean chewed!? I had called on everything, I even counted cartons, then packs, then my plan went into play, I quit two days before my daughter's birthday, I thew the last of them away, a week latter, two days before my wife's birthday, I thew away the last of the gum, and only then did I know I was free. I count my daughter's birthday as my anniversary day, and this year it will be 16 years free on my daughter's birthday. I still need three inhalers, mostly only two, and I remember the year I quit my sponsor gave me a special gold filled 13-year medallion for the other addiction, and about 10 years later I learned he suffered from childhood asthma that followed him all his life. I can tell you, I loved my sponsor like no other man in my program, and three years ago I was at his bedside when he died. He had never nagged, never complained, never told me what to do, never told me anything about his asthma, or my emphysema. Before I sit in the morning, I use my inhalers. And very often I think of my sponsor's days before meetings, how he gave people rides, contributed easily to my needs. He was a selfless man who never knew what lotus meant, maybe never heard the word, and today, I still love him, and how he's love helped me find more years with my family. My sponsor always said I'm Larry and I'm still an alcoholic. I have 30 years free from the first addiction, and I say, "I'm Chuck, I a grateful alcoholic." Sixteen years free of cigarettes.
Tai Shi
std
Gassho