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Yeah...it was great. We had to do a family intervention when he was about sixty, and I was doing things like driving around to find out which bar he was in and bring him home so he didn’t kill someone on the road.

Thank God that never happened. But that was when it really hit me-”My dad is an alcoholic!” It was really humiliating to me to have to run him down in bars like that.

But when he got sober, it was like he was a new man. Not that he was bad before, he was just pretty uncommunicative and stone-faced. After he quit, it was fun to see how interesting and funny he could be. He had a completely irreverent sense of humor, and he was largely humorless for most of his life.

One of the greatest things in my life was him getting sober. For the last fifteen years of his life, he went to AA meetings, sometimes three a week, sponsored people, ran meetings and was an inspiration and help to a lot of people.

I carry his special AA coin around with me every day. When things get a little tough, I put my hand on it in my pocket and think about the “One day at a time” motto, and about him. It helps.

I know mariijuana can be bad too, but I have come to the conclusion there is no way it is as bad as alcohol. I have seen what alcohol does to people, and in my opinion, it is just as destructive as heroin or cocaine, even more so because it is much cheaper and easier to get.

I know others feel differently about pot, but I simply don’t see it as dangerous as alcohol. On the other hand, we have all known burnouts, so it isn’t without its risks as well.