Happy Thanksgiving

By the Grace of God and the Program of Alcoholics Anonymous, this is my twenty-fifth sober Thanksgiving.  Words could not begin to convey to you what this means to me.

I have had twenty-five Thanksgivings when the family could invite me without too much worry.  (although there was one period when I was likely to bring around "socially unacceptable" men with tattoos, etc.... oh, those were the days!) In these 25 holidays, there have been lean years, and prosperous years, happy years and sad years, but they have all been sober years.  

I used to laugh at people who said "my worst day sober is better than my best day drunk," but I think I could say that today.  I am just so grateful for this wonderful life of sobriety, with all its joys and pains.  And I am so grateful for the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous where I have made life-long friends.  The quality of our friendships is unlike any other.  

I am glad that I learned to be happy with what I have instead of looking for the next big thing to make me happy.  I am glad I learned to focus on the people around my table instead of worrying about the pie's crust being a bit too brown, and noticing that there is a stain on one of the napkins.  

I am going to enjoy this day, and I thank God for it.