Great stuff on here, as always.
Not looking for fanfare or anything, just felt good and felt like reporting 6 months yesterday. Never tried this before, and still some fear around what's next, around the fleeting thoughts of "well, maybe when the kids are out of college, I can drink right," and other insanity that still persists. Wife and I are doing better, finances are a mess from my f ups, but ... getting more clear, and I've made amends to my two older kids in a way that they both could understand in as rigorously honest a way as possible. Spiritual progress is seeping into other areas of life, and that is something for which I have much gratitude, something that never would have worked in the past ... "well, that's f'd up, you did that wrong, you are not living up to MY expectations," etc.
Relationships are becoming stronger, but so are feelings - something I would not allow myself to feel for a long, long time. It's strange to me and also something I know I cannot control, but something that I don't know how to "direct," if you will. A big, jumbled mess of figuring out who God made me to be, but not figuring it out, because I can't even know! I do know I can't control it, and letting go of that has been the most freeing part of it all.
Lots of learning and hopefully growing ahead; thankful for sobriety today.
Thanks to all for your continued shares and advice. It means the world to this guy, for sure.
Charlie D