09/21/2026
13 years ago today, I made a decision that changed my life.
I decided to stop drinking.
At the time, I didn't think I was quitting forever. I told myself I would take a three-month break.
Something happened during those three months.
The fog lifted.
I started seeing my life, my relationships, my decisions and myself more clearly.
Then my mother-in-law passed away.
Being sober through that experience allowed me to be fully present with my wife and family.
It was painful, but also incredibly meaningful.
It was a very difficult Holiday season that year and there was a huge void in our lives.
So we decided to escape everything and went to Jamaica in January.
One evening I was deep in thought and grief. I decided I was going to have a beer.
I ordered it.
I picked it up.
I smelled it.
And then I put it down.
I said, “I don't want to start over.”
That was the moment I knew.
I didn't want to go back to who I had been.
So I kept going.
One day at a time.
One decision at a time.
And somehow, 13 years have passed.
Looking back, I realize I didn't need to know where that first decision would take me.
I just needed to make it.
I've made plenty of mistakes over the course of my life. I've had to forgive myself for some of the ways I treated people.
I hope they can forgive me too.
Today, I'm incredibly grateful for the life I have and the person I'm still becoming.
Sometimes you don't need to know the whole path. You just need to make the best next decision.
I'm learning to listen and trust that inner voice.
That is my north star and my guiding light as I strive to become the best I can be every day!