" A guy that I once knew"

I'd like to tell you a story about a guy that I once knew. You can ask anyone who knew him then, if this story is not true.

As a boy he was resentful of other kids in school who brought their lunch in neatly wrapped brown paper bags and never broke the rule. They had no patches on their pants and wore different clothes each day. At recess, they seemed so content when they would go out to play.

As he watched them from a distance, all bottled up inside... and resentful of the fact that he was poor, he hung his head and cried. He made a vow that when he grew all neatly dressed he'd be. He'd buy all kinds of worldly things for everyone to see.

As this boy became a man he kept the vow he had made. He worked and saved and found success, but a price he dearly paid. He skipped right through his childhood, not realizing what he had lost. He could buy almost anything, not caring what the cost.

He drank, he lied and became obsessed with money, power and name. Then played around with peoples lives, to him it was just a game.

His life became unmanageable, blaming everything but Booze. As he hit bottom he realized he's have to pay his dues.

He lost his wife and family. He lost his self respect. He lost everything but his bottle of which he did not neglect.

This man was sick, he needed help, but where was he to turn? Sow low are you, look up he cried, or surely you will burn. He did look up to a loving God who forgave him as you can see. For I'm sure that you all know by now the guy I once knew was me.
-A.A.E. Sr.