I, on the other hand, have never had a problem drinking -- I enjoy it greatly and do it as often as possible.
I think even non-addicted/non-alcoholic people should be in a 12-step program. It's totally changed my outlook and how I respond to people, places and things!
Great news. I quit on Feb. 3, 1998. Probably drank more whiskey while trying to quit than most people will drink in their lifetimes. AA is what worked for me, but I'm all for whatever works for any individual.
I have found that recovering alcoholics are the nuttiest, craziest, most capable and the funnest(?) group of people I've ever been around.
Congrats and God love ya.
Yours is one of the most honest, humble posts I have seen on FR. Thanks for sharing your story. It could not have been easy.
This is a great post. Sometimes God send his unlikely angels to give us a little encouragement, or a little warning, whatever the case may be.
28 years ago I decided I was already stupid enough and didn't need a chemical assist of any kind to be any stupider than I already was. I thought then and I still think that an industrial solvent like ethanol didn't need to be bathing all of my tissues. I enjoy sobriety more than I even enjoyed a drink and don't think you have to be an alcoholic to quit drinking. I don't drink in much the same way vegetarians don't eat meat. It's simply a personal choice.
Congratulations Rob ~ I'm a friend of Bill W ~ I've been clean and sober since 10-26-75 after 30 years of drinking.
I was waiting to hear about AA. Although your post is very open and honest, the majority of people have a hard time staying sober on their own. Please don't discount AA should the time come when you really need it. The power of support cannot be underestimated. Good luck and if anyone out there wonders if they have an alcohol or drug problem, you probably do. People who don't rarely think about if they do.
This post made me want to have a big stiff drink.
I remember some months ago when you first wrote of this. I could not be happier about your ongoing recovery. Mrs. Lando lost her father to alcohol and I can say first-hand how difficult that is. Your brutal honesty should be uplifting to all who take the time to read your story. I've wished this before and I'll wish it now.....may God bless you and yours.
Lando 
Please put me on the RobFromGa ping.
Thank you very much.
Bookmarking for later this morning.
you have a family? children? here is the good news.
my dad was a nasty drunk, but totally functioning, in the work environment, until ... it caught up with him at age 47. hit the bottom. trashed his career (USAF) and finally, his wife left and took the last two children with her. She had about 5 years in Al-anon and had learned how not to enable (difficult). Dad found Bill W, thank God. He got sober and was sober for 2 years. There was some media speculation that a detoxed alcoholic might be able to have just a little. Not him. But he had to try it. two weeks later, some friends of Bill W found him in a crummy motel and intervened. He awoke again and was sober for 27 years until the day he died. I found him years later, a man i had never really known. The past is gone, and my good news is that whatever has happened, its done and those who were hurt will also recover. I remember the bad times, but when I think of him, all i feel is love and admiration, and pride, that he was my dad. Lester Earl Clark.
Famous quotes overheard at 12 Step meetings.
Treat your mind like a bad neighborhood - don't go there alone.
Ten out of ten people die, so don't take life too seriously.
Be profound, funny or quiet.
After you talk in a meeting, listen to hear if you said anything.
I don't need your help today.... Love, God.
Our sickness is between our ears.
Want to hear God laugh? Tell Him your plans.
Don't expect to learn about people from books; a person can't fit in a bookcase.
Now I can wake up and say, "Good morning, God!" rather than "Good God, it's morning!"
When I turned myself over to God, I took my life out of the hands of an idiot.
When the world comes to an end, it will do so without my permission.
If you pray for a Cadillac and God sends a jackass, ride it.
There's no one too dumb for this program, but it's possible to be too smart.
All I wanted was to control you, myself and everything else.
My disease is an elephant. As long as I remember it's there, I won't get stepped on.
Try praying. Nothing pleases God more than to hear a strange voice.
Reality can be hell when you're only visiting.
God save me from myself.
"keep it simple"
We're all here because we're not all here.
Constructive criticism: I tell you what's wrong with you.
Destructive criticism: You tell me what is wrong with me.
My mind is out to get me.
I need to get the cotton out of my ears and put it in my mouth.
Come to ninety meetings in ninety days. If you're not satisfied, we'll refund your misery.
Things I turn over to God most easily are those things already fixed.
EGO: Easing God Out
God has never been a problem in my life, but I have been a problem to God all my life.
I know that I'm not yet the person I can be, but I thank God I'm not the person I used to be.
If you think you're happy, you are. If you think you're wise, you're not.
When I don't have expectationsof others, anything positive they do is a pleasant surprise.
A wonderful life awaits, replete with ups and downs, the spices which add flavor. May God continue to help you stay sober.
Thank you for this letter.
Ping
I know there will be many who see themselves in your post Rob, and as the child of two alcoholics (one dead at 53, one recovering poorly from a liver transplant at 63, both heavy, heavy burdens to their children) may I say thank you for that.
May God bless you and keep you strong-I cannot begin to tell you the gift you give to your family. And YES I will praise you for stopping-whether alcoholism is a disease or a choice I don't think any of us are born perfect, we are all works in progress in one way or another. It's not what you've done in the past but where you go from here that counts, and it's never too late to be the best person you can be.
Let me buy you a beer.