Mike would have been 39 years sober as I write this. We celebrated with his cousins last year, but I don’t recall that he ate cake. He wasn’t eating much of anything by then.

His sobriety birthday was more important to him than his real birthday, or our wedding anniversary. He wouldn’t have had a life had he not stopped drinking. That’s true for most of us who have struggled with alcohol. 

He often said I wouldn’t have wanted to know him as a drinker. I’m grateful we met when we did … and that we spent 30 sober years together.