My Name Is...

AI encouragement

It’s not something I keep a secret from people: I am an alcoholic.

I also feel like I have shared my story so many times that it feels like I’m on autopilot anymore when I tell it.

I woke up in the middle of the California desert with no recollection of how I got there in my wife’s car. I was shirtless for some reason. I had so many missed calls and messages on my phone I just deleted them all after listening to the first couple. My wife looking for me. My brother looking for me. My sister looking for me. I started the car and drove home, flashes of my shitty behavior the night before coming back.

My god, I was a shit. To my wife most of all. But to everyone who loved me, really.

I got home and my wife was waiting. Fear giving way to relief, then anger. I had failed and hurt her in ways I would consider unforgivable.

“Fix your shit, or get out.”

And that was day one of my sobriety.

Of course, I am leaving out a lot of the gory details in this re-telling. My wife may re…