Alcoholic experiences
When I found my 41-year-old wife dead in bed early one December morning it was the horrible culmination of weeks and weeks of alcoholic drinking. For months leading up to her tragic death we had been drinking to oblivion every day, both of us drunkenly incapable of working in our respective careers. We were using our savings to buy alcohol every day. We rarely left the house: other than to buy booze. On average we would drink anything between six and eight bottles of wine a day. Why did we behave in such a destructive way when we both enjoyed successful and lucrative careers? Simple. We were alcoholics. Addicted to alcohol. Incapable of going a day without drinking. At the time of my beautiful wife’s death she had only been drinking for 13 years, having hardly touched booze before her late 20s. On her death certificate it said the cause of death was excess fat on her liver. It’s a polite medical term that means she drank herself to death. For my part, I had been guzzling the hard stuff for the best part of 20 years when she died. For a long time, I managed to get away with it. My profession was notorious for hard drinking. It was common for people to turn up for work smelling of drink, unsteady on their feet. But when my alcoholism took over every aspect of my life, I stopped turning up for work., I was drink-driving most days, I had no regard for my responsibilities towards my family, friends and work colleagues. In other words totally selfish and insensitive. I used alcohol to escape reality. Yet my life would have been the envy of many – fantastic wife, lovely wife, good job with handsome salary. Every luxury within our grasp. And what did we want? To drink ourselves to oblivion every day. The consequences were fatal for my wife and disastrous for me. I don’t complain as they resulted from my own behaviour. And my downfall, leading to the sack at work, charged with drink-driving, spending the night in a cell, I stumbled into Alcoholics Anonymous 13 years ago. People at the AA meetings – from teens to octogenarians – said they had been just like me, which was hard to believe at first as they were fresh-faced and happy. I was told that if I didn’t believe what I’d heard then I should believe what I saw. And what I saw were men and women – 50/50 in most cases – enjoying life to the full. Without drink. So how does it work? The golden rule is stay away from the first drink. Keep sober company. Go to plenty of meetings. Learn how to stay sober. There is a 12-step programme, which in essence is a guide to decent living. I stopped drinking in January 2006. Today I have a terrific life, and I have problems, just like everyone else in this world. But I don’t need to drink anymore to make the problems go away (for a few hours at least). The way of life offered by living the AA programme is beyond words. Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935. Today it is bigger than ever, saving lives bringing peace to the spouses and partners of the families. Two closing thoughts: if AA did not work it would now be long defunct. And if you have problem with your drinking, why not give AA a try. If it doesn’t work for you, feel free to pick up your misery on the way out the door.
Thanks to AA from a very grateful alcoholic.
ALMORADÍ commemorated World Civil Defence Day at the beginning of this month.
The celebration takes place annually on March 1, and the municipal department for Protección Civil took the opportunity to recognise the work undertaken by the force’s volunteers during the emergency situations created by both the devastating storms in 2019, and the current pandemic.
Almoradí mayor María Gómez, together with the councillor for Protección Civil Alfonso García gave each of the volunteers a small gift and
took the opportunity to thank them for their work, which is ‘so necessary’ both during emergencies, and now at the weekly market, ensuring stallholders and shoppers comply with health and safety measures.
Also in attendance were local police officers, the Guardia Civil, and fire officers, for whom the Protección Civil always provide assistance if requested.
Almoradí currently has a team of 25 volunteer Protección Civil officers, and continues to work to make the group a provincial reference point.
IN mid-January the pianist Jorge Gil Zulueta and percussionist Sergio Gutiérrez were due to transport the audience to the world of silent movies during a performance at Guardamar del Segura culture centre.
That was until a new wave of the coronavirus put paid to municipal culture programmes throughout the region.
Now that we are seeing some light at the end of what has felt like an interminable tunnel, the duo will finally fulfil this engagement, tonight (Friday, March 12) at 19.00, when they perform accompanying music to a screening of the 1923 Harold Lloyd classic romantic silent comedy Safety Last! (in Spanish, El Hombre mosca).
Admission is free by invitation, which can be reserved online at www.agendaguardamar.com
All coronavirus protocols, including the obligatory wearing of masks, reduced capacity
and social distancing will be applied.