George's Story

I was a big lad at 15 and hung around with a bunch of big guys, so on a busy Saturday night it wasn’t to hard to pass the scrutiny of the overworked barman and buy my first “real” drink., I was shaking inside and with a lot of regret later, discovered that night that I was the guy  in our group who could get drunk on the least amount of beer,… 2 pints and I was well gone….. and with three I would be legless and totally out of it.  As you can imagine I was the source of a bunch of jokes for a lot of years. 

I served an apprenticeship as a manufacturing engineer, married my wife, and with her help we bought a house in Aberdeen (Scotland) and had a couple of kids. At 40 my life seemed OK but money was always tight so It was hard to afford booze but boy was I lucky I discovered Home Brew (home made alcohol) and better than that I started to get a “taste” for drink.

Out of all my attempts I discovered my lager was drinkable and I was now able to consume a “ration” of 4 pints a night as my wife went out at night and I was left to baby-sit.

1978 seemed to be the answer to my prayers because oil had been discovered in the north sea in the late 60’s and by 78 the oil industry were screaming for qualified guys like myself .  So I joined an American Service Company in April 1978 and it was then that my drinking career really took off!! I joined this small company at just the right time because as it expended so did the number of job titles I had, starting as a simple instrument technician I went on to work offshore then back onshore to become a operations supervisor, marketing rep, trouble shooter, international operations supervisor and lastly training Manager. In each of these positions drink played its part from the heavy “sessions” with the guys when we came onshore, the drinking with the clients as we entertained them while looking for work, right through to my favourite excuse for a glass and that covered just about everything and that was STRESS !! that wonderful excuse that just about everyone could understand    

I could write pages and pages of my drinkalog but they would probably be just like the same as every single alcoholic, I drank enough alcohol on a daily basis that I felt enabled me to survive but my life was 100% dominated by alcohol, I had to drink all the time, but by now it gave no “kick”,  and although by this time even I realised that I had to stop.  But hadn’t I tried dozens of times? And failed!! I couldn’t stay sober and fell off the wagon quickly and even worse on a few occasions that I tried I suffered badly with the DT’s.

My best attempt was in December of 2000, the dates are hazy to me but I stopped drinking early in the month and as I have just described I took a really bad case of DT’s  where I was talking to the furniture, it was raining inside the house, flowers were revolving and talking to me and I was presenting a play with the window sill being the stage !!!, fortunately this was observed by my doctor and I was admitted to hospital. I got out on Christmas eve and stayed sober till January the ninth (my birthday), On my birthday I felt that I deserved a drink for my efforts but as no one agreed so I stormed of to the pub where I got absolutely paralytic . I got home from there and fell asleep when I awoke I knew I was beaten, so I emptied our bottle of vodka into a glass and drank it knowing that that might be my last drink for a very long time. I was beaten and agreed to go into a detox unit the next day.

Mag signed me into a clinic, which was 30 or so miles from Aberdeen, and I was to join a class just about to undergo a  6 weeks long detox session. In the first week I was fed with Librium to help me stop shaking and suffering the DT’s and over the 6 weeks we were introduced to AA meetings, which we attended 3 times a week. As well as AA meetings we studied and attempted the first 5 steps of the AA program.

6 Weeks after entering the clinic I was let out, Mag picked me up and took me home but had to leave and go back to her work, so there I was alone, scared, sober (i.e. had no alcohol in my bloodstream) and thinking that this was one of the most important moments of my life, I wasn’t in pain now so would it be all right if I just took a wee drink or should I take this sobriety business seriously and give the no drinking policy a chance.

I chose the sobriety route and started to attend AA regularly. I have to be honest and say that the first year was hard but year on year my life has changed for the better, I’ve been sober for over 6 years now and can honestly say that I have back most of that drink took from me (except that flipping job LOLLL).

Never mind, I got another job that, although not as well paid, suited me much better for as well as enjoying my days work I could go home without any worries flying around my head. Which in itself was worth a few ££
Money or should I say the persuit of money was always high on my priorities when I was drinking, because I thought that without it happiness would be difficult to find but over the last 6 years of my sobriety I’ve gained things in my life that no money could buy i.e.

(1) I’ve won back the love and trust of my family, who at one time would have been glad to see the end of me 

(2) I have a little 2 year old grandson who loves to play with his Grand-dad with his toy cars
      especially in the toy garage that Grand dad  had great fun making. He also thinks that Granddad is the best   
      person to head for if he need comforting after a fall or wants a comfy pair arms to sleep in.

(3) I have a 7 year old grand daughter who, when I was performing, I was banned from seeing alone!!
      In case I dropped or hurt her Now I’m a trusted babysitter and one of the best at telling stories (although
      Gran is her favourite still)

(4) Now I have REAL friends around me.

(5) All the time I drank and worked, my head never seemed to stop calculating the things that could go
      wrong In fact I can safely say that I worried for Scotland !!. I was that guy  who would worry If I didn’t have
      something to worry about !! LOLLLL Now I can honestly say have found true peace of mind because I have
      a better understanding of what’s important in life.

 Readers, my life is good now because, thanks to the help that AA has given me, I am now able to face it with courage
One Day At A Time .

George Aberdeen