Learning to Love AA

I was a later bloomer than some in AA. I started drinking at the age of 13 when my Dad's friend gave me rum, which made me feel quite wobbly. I didn't want to do it again, but I did and at 15 I had my first blackout at my aunt's house, when I threw up over the fish she took out for dinner. That did not go over well. My drinking went on through my teens into my early twenties, where things got pretty serious. I robbed a beer and wine store in a blackout and served seven months in jail.  I was paroled, with the condition that I not drink, but pretty soon I was at it again. I slept under bridges all over Canada and was pulled from a snow bank passed out cold in Winnipeg when I was 24. They took me to a shelter and asked me if I wanted to get sober, but I said, nope, just give me my money, I am going to get a drink.