Cousin, and fellow alcoholic who was sober passed away today...

He was still sober, but had other health issues that escalated the last 2 months and he succumbed to them a few hours ago. A little backstory.

He was older than me in his 60's and I'm almost 30, but growing up him and his wife were the partiers and drinkers in the family. Even at a young age I knew he liked his booze. Fast forward to 2019 and I'm attending my first AA meeting after medically detoxing and going to a detox center for a week, and I go to the meeting closest to my house and he was there. I was so nervous and I hadn't seen him since I was a lot younger but he recognized me instantly. We talked and I told him my story and he made me so much more comfortable.

A year later this past January he's handing me my 1 year chip. We always chatted at meetings and on the phone so I knew about his health issues but they just got worse after a procedure he went to have in Feb. Today I find out from my cousin (his daughter) that he has passed after getting out of the ICU 2 weeks ago.

I hadn't seen him since Feb right before he went into ICU and no one was allowed to visit with this pandemic doing on. If he wasn't at that meeting that night I might not have stuck around and would be drinking still. Him being there made it more comfortable for me and he made everyone laugh in meetings every day. I get to have the one year chip that he presented to me in the meeting and will get to cherish it forever.

I will not drink today Joe! Love you cousin!