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Part III

THEY LOST NEARLY ALL

The fifteen stories in this group tell of alcoholism at its miserable worst.

Many tried everything--hospitals, special treatments, sanitariums, asylums, and jails. Nothing worked. Loneliness, great physical and mental agony--these were the common lot. Most had taken shattering losses on nearly every front of life. Some went on trying to live with alcohol. Others wanted to die.

Alcoholism had respected nobody, neither rich nor poor, learned nor unlettered. All found themselves headed for the same destruction, and it seemed they could do nothing whatever to stop it.

Now sober for years, they tell us how they got well. They prove to almost anyone's satisfaction that it's never too late to try Alcoholics Anonymous.

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MY BOTTLE, MY RESENTMENTS,

AND ME

From childhood trauma to skid row drunk, this hobo finally found a Higher Power, bringing sobriety and a long-lost family.

W hen i rode into a small mountain town in an empty freight car, my matted beard and filthy hair would have reached nearly to my belt, if I'd had a belt. I wore a lice-infested, grimy Mexican poncho over a reeking pajama top, and a ragged pair of jeans stuffed into cowboy boots with no heels. I carried a knife in one boot and a .38 revolver in the other. For six years I'd been fighting for survival on skid rows and riding across the country in freights. I hadn't eaten in a long time, so was half starved and down to 130 pounds. I was mean and I was drunk.

But, I'm ahead of myself. I believe my alcoholism really began when I was eleven years old and my mother was brutally murdered. Until then my life had been much the same as any of the other boys who lived in a small town during that period.

One night my mother failed to return home from her job at a car manufacturing plant. The next morning there was still no sign of her or any clue to why she had disappeared; with great apprehension the police were called. Since I was a mama's boy, this was especially traumatic for me. And to make matters

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ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

unbelievably worse, a few days later the police came

and arrested my father. They had found mom's muti-

lated body in a field outside of town and wanted to

question him. In that instant the family life I knew

was destroyed! My father was soon returned because

the police had found a pair of glasses that did not be-

long to him at the murder scene. This clue led to the

man who had so brutally killed my mother.

At school the gossip was vicious. At home there was

chaos and no one would tell me what was happening,

so I withdrew and began to block out the reality

around me. If I could pretend it didn't exist, it might

go away. I became extremely lonely and defiant. The

confusion, pain, and grief had begun to subside when

an article appeared in a murder mystery magazine

about my family's misfortune. The children at school

started the gossip and scrutiny all over again. I re-

treated further and became angrier and more with-

drawn. It was easier that way, because people would

leave me alone if I acted disturbed even before they

tried to inquire.

Because my father was unable to care for all nine of

us, the family had to be split up. About a year later he

remarried, and my oldest brother offered to take me

in. He and his new wife tried to help me, but I was

just so defensive there was little they or anyone else

could do. Finally, I took a job after school sorting soda

bottles in a grocery store, where I found I could for-

get if I worked hard enough. In addition, it was a good

place to steal beer and be a big guy with the other kids

in school. That's the way my drinking began, as a way

to make the pain go away.

After several years of semidelinquent adolescence, I

MY BOTTLE, MY RESENTMENTS, AND ME

439

was old enough to join the marines. Leaving behind

the origin of my bitterness, I thought my life would be

better and the drinking not so bad. However, during

boot camp, I recognized that this was not the answer.

The discipline, the authority, the tight schedule went

against my very nature, but it was a two-year stint, so

there had to be a way to function in spite of the

anger and now hatred that seethed through me. Every

night found me at a bar drinking until they threw me

out. That got me through the week; on weekends we

went to a club nearby. This place was managed by

people who drank as much as or more than I did. I be-

came a constant customer. Arguments and fights were

a regular occurrence.

I managed to complete the two years, was given an

honorable discharge, and was sent on my way. Leaving

the marine base behind and feeling homesick for my old

environs, I hitchhiked back to my old hometown and

returned to my brother's home. I soon found work as

a painter for a construction company in town. By now

drinking had become a constant part of my life.

Through some friends I met a woman I really cared

for and soon we were married. A year later our daugh-

ter was born, and eventually two boys. Oh, how I

loved my brood! This nice little family should have

settled me down, but instead my drinking progressed.

It finally reached the point where I was intolerable to

live with, and my wife filed for divorce. I just went

berserk, and the sheriff ordered me to leave town. I

knew if I stayed, my anger at my wife for taking those

children away from me would get me into more trou-

ble than even I could handle, so once again I set off.

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