My name is Peter Recovered Alcoholic.

I'm grateful to be alive and sober and part of a sacred place called Alcoholics Anonymous.

And first things first, thank the group for inviting me out here and putting me up this weekend.

I'm grateful to be here to share my experience and hope with you.

It's not my first time out to Washington.

I've been out here a few times.

My fiancé is from Bellingham, Washington,

so she took me on a bit of a tour today.

I visited a place called Snow Kwame Falls.

For the first 20 minutes, I thought I was John Rambo in First Blood.

But I'm from Florida, so I showed up with white linen pants and a white shirt,

and they knew I was from Florida.

I had no business being on a trail.

It was a sight.

I mean, people were walking up and down, and they've been very polite,

but looking at me dressed in linen, walking up this.

I'm originally from New York, as you can tell, and I don't belong on trails.

June 23rd, 1988 was my separation from alcohol, and I'm grateful to be as a recovered alcoholic.

And I say recovered because I am, because anything less than that would be falsely humble.

I'm not telling you I'm cured or don't need to be here anymore, but the first promise in the big book talks to us about getting recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. And so hopefully at some point during this talk, you can be

convinced that I'm bearing witness to something like that. That is by the mercy of God and the power

of God I found in the sacred rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous that has resurrected my life. June 23rd,

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