This book is my story of alcoholism and how I found and am living a new way of life grounded in the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. I do not claim to be a member of Alcoholics, only that with guidance from a sponsor, I practice their twelve steps in my life.

This book is organized by chapters that cover each of the steps, especially my experience in each. It also includes a brief history of my active alcoholic years.

The description of each Step is not my wisdom, it is simply my personal experience. There is little in AA that is new.

The wisdom, and yes, I believe it is wisdom, is a compilation of the 100s of recovering alcoholics I’ve encountered over more than 35 years of sobriety coupled with my personal experience. It is also the wisdom from several of the best sponsors in the world that willingly took their time to share their experiences including their innermost secrets with me and how they live each step.

It is also the wisdom from hundreds of speakers over the years that shared their story from the podium or a speaker tape (yep that dates me), a podcast, or more recently on the many websites that make speakers available free of charge. This book does not replace the book Alcoholics Anonymous which is the source of the twelve steps covered herein.

It is my hope that my experience will bring at least one suffering from alcoholism to find recovery from this disease. .