Hi, I’m Steve, and I’m an alcoholic. My story began in High School with occasionally drinking after special events such as high football games, dances, and proms. It began to escalate while I was attending Frostburg State University. I started pledging a National Fraternity where I was introduced to new things like beer bongs and keg stands, which I had never heard of growing in my small town of Cumberland, Maryland. At this point, I also began to experiment with liquor using the fake ID that I received from an older Fraternity Brother. During my time at FSU, I received my Bachelors in Mass Communication, with a minor in Psychology. I also served as the Treasurer and Secretary of my nationally recognized Fraternity.

After graduation, I relocated to Hagerstown, Maryland where I did not have any friends or family. It was a drastic change from the very eventful social calendar that I was used to at FSU, so I began checking out the local bars where my drinking escalated from beer to liquor on just about a daily basis. At this point, if I was not working, I was drinking.

The next stage of my Alcoholism began when I moved to the Baltimore area. There was so much to do there, amazing tiki bars, baseball games, a floating pool bar that was located on the water in the Inner Harbor, and many more exciting places to socialize and drink. At this point, drinking became an everyday occurrence. I also stopped drinking beer at this point and mainly drank Vodka. My social life was amazing, I felt like a celebrity, but my drinking did not stop there. I soon began drinking when I woke up on my days off, in fact, the only time that I did not drink was while I was working.

After 17 years of working for the same company, I decided it was time for a change, so I relocated back to the Cumberland area for a brief time, then to the Deep Creek Lake area. A family member owned a wine shop there and still does. There I had all the free wine that I could drink; my life was centered around drinking at this point. If I was not engaged in an activity which allowed me to drink, I would just drink in my room. The epic social life that I once knew had drastically changed. Winters here were cold and long, so I drank in my room most of the winter. Friends and family fell to the bottom of my list, all that I wanted to do was drink.

On January 25th driving back from Cumberland visiting my parents the engine blow up in my jeep. That is when I hit rock bottom. I started drinking vodka again, and I went on a very heavy two-day binge. I woke up Saturday the 27th with the worst hangover ever.

That is when I realized that I needed help. Monday morning I went to the Garrett County County Health Department for Outpatient Intake. I also began attending AA meetings on a daily basis. After detoxing, I began to enjoy the meetings, listened to others share their experience, strength, and hope. As recommended, I found a sponsor, started working the 12 Steps, and completed 90 meeting in 90 days. I was sharing my journey, experiencing strength, and hope at most meetings as well as chairing AA meetings. I looked forward to my AA meetings and the Health Department meetings.

Summer soon arrived and my weekly work hours increased. I was saddened when I learned that I would have to reduce my Group Meeting at the Health Department down to one day. At this point I was at five months of living sober, people would ask me why I continued to attend the AA meetings and more so my HD Meetings. The answer is simple, the fellowship and the experience, strength, and hope that I receive in these rooms brings joy, a new presence, and sobriety to my life. I was not court ordered to attend these meetings; I choose to attend.

I am 2 weeks away from my six-month sobriety date. I still look forward to my meetings at the Health Department and AA. I have become very active in my recovery, attending community outreach meetings, sharing my experience, strength, and hope, working the 12 steps of AA and living day by day. Recovery is plural because it an everyday process, there is no past tense term such as recovered. It’s a process that has brought me new happiness and a new way of life.