Page 197 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

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ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS

NUMBER THREE

Pioneer member of Akron’s Group No. 1, the first
A.A. group in the world. He kept the faith; therefore,
he and countless others found a new life.

ne of five children, I was born on a Kentucky
Ofarm in Carlyle County. My parents were well-
to-do people, and their marriage was a happy one.
My wife, a Kentucky girl, came with me to Akron
where I completed my course in law at the Akron Law
School.
My case is rather unusual in one respect. There
were no childhood episodes of unhappiness to account
for my alcoholism. I had, seemingly, just a natural
affinity for grog. My marriage was happy, and I never
had any of the reasons, conscious or unconscious,
which are often given for drinking. Yet, as my record
shows, I did become an extremely serious case.
Before my drinking had cut me down completely, I
achieved a considerable measure of success, having
been a city councilman for five years and a financial
director of a suburb later taken into the city itself.
But, of course, this all went down the drain with my
increased drinking. So, at the time Dr. Bob and Bill
came along, I had about run out my strength.
The first time that I became intoxicated I was eight
years old. This was no fault of my father or mother, as

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