My Last Drink: A Mother’s Prayer

May 10, 1976, was the day I took my last drink. The drinking had started the evening before in a bar and continued through the night, into the early morning hours, and well into the afternoon. At the time, it seemed like just another typical day of drinking. I had no idea that it would become the day that forever changed my life.

I came home around two o’clock that afternoon and saw my mother praying. She looked at me without saying a word, but I knew she was praying for me. I felt hurt and deeply ashamed. No words passed between us, yet in that silent moment, there was truth. I finally realized that alcohol had become the problem in my life, and I was powerless to overcome it on my own. It was a moment of surrender and desperation—the jumping-off place where I knew I could no longer live with alcohol, yet I had no idea how to live without it.

For the first time in many years, I cried out to God for help.  I did not want to drink anymore, and that thought stayed with me throughout the rest of that day.  When I woke the next morning, the same resolve remained. That evening, May 11, 1976, I went to my first AA meeting. I have not had a drink since.

Looking back, it seems more than a coincidence that my last day of drinking fell so close to Mother’s Day. My mother’s love and a simple prayer offered on that afternoon in 1976 became part of the turning point that changed the entire course of my life.  I don’t pretend that one prayer alone kept me sober. AA, the Twelve Steps, the fellowship, my sponsors, and a growing faith in God all became part of my recovery. But I will never forget seeing my mother praying for me when I came home that afternoon. That image has stayed with me for fifty years.

I remain deeply grateful to a loving God, to AA, to the fellowship, and to the simple wisdom that I only have to live life one day at a time.

It works if you work it.

Thank you, Mom. Thank you, AA. And thank you, my loving God.

And to all the mothers who have prayed for children they could not help themselves: Happy Mother’s Day.