Hey there my name is Sari and I am an alcoholic. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, California. I am currently 53 years old, and my sobriety date is February 19, 1998.
I started drinking and using when I was about nine years old. First it was cigarettes, then marijuana, and when I was about 13 I started drinking alcohol. I'm pretty sure I was an alcoholic from the very beginning, I loved drinking and getting drunk. I love the feeling when it goes down and takes over. I lived chasing that feeling for about 21 years. During that time I had gotten kicked out of high school, fired from plenty of jobs, and met the man I was about to marry in a bar completely shitfaced.
I wasn't looking for help on the day that another alcoholic reached out to me and told me of a recovery program for alcoholics, in fact I was trying to plan on how I could get out of work. Thank God I didn’t and I showed up to work feeling like shit after drinking and walked into the arms of a sober coworker who reminded me that there was another way and I didn’t have to live the way I was living. I went to a few meetings, and did not want to identify with those alcoholics, and then I drank again.
When I knew I was done, God made it clear to me even though I didn’t believe in him at the time. The next recovery meeting I went to I stood up as a newcomer, sort of against my will and that started my journey into sobriety. I dragged my kids to meetings, (they were three and five at the time), I went to all the fellowship I could because I was afraid of being alone and that if I was I might drink. When I was about four years sober is when I started my prayer life, up until then I stayed sober mostly off the meetings and the fellowship, although I had also done step work.
I’ve had three main sponsors my whole sobriety, my second sponsor is the one who got me to start praying. That’s when everything really started to change for the better. The sponsor I’m with now I’ve had for approximately 9 or 10 years and she introduced me to meditation. That has been a real game changer as well.
Now my life is so rich and meaningful. I’ve had heart breaks, I’ve been broke, but because of the 12 steps and a loving God I have been able to persevere into the woman God intended me to be. I have two adult children and three grandchildren.
I also get to help take care of my parents now as a living amends for all the trouble and heartache I caused them in my drinking days. Love and service have been the answers to all my problems. I could not have planned my life out any better than the way God wrote the script, and with that I will continue to let God direct my life as best I can with sobriety and the 12 steps.
Komen