me,

right? A warrior, a leader, you know, all this kind of stuff.

And I'm like, I was totally bewildered by the disease of alcoholism.

And then, and it is a disease.

In 1956, the American Medical Association determined it was a disease.

The founder of the program I was in, that started in 1935.

June 10th, 1935 is our anniversary.

So was there a stranger who arrived exactly when you needed them at some point on the trail? that you can't forget.

different form.

Yes.

And I'm editing all the time, making it better and better and better before I get it filed and send it out into the ether of the legal world, you know.

So once I started writing, and I had a really good English teacher in high school, believe it or not, Genevieve Williams, I'll never forget her, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, and she would diagram sentences all day long, cover the whole board.

So I had a good, solid basis of understanding the English language.

I had a pretty good vocabulary, you know, all that kind of stuff that I had developed.

So when it came to writing, I didn't have the ability of most writers, but I had the basic tools that I needed to get started.

What advice would you like to say to them? Then you can also tell us where we can get your book and promote your websites.

Hmm.

Hmm.And by my late 50s, early 60s, it was, it, it owned me.

I couldn't...

I was having more and more trouble stopping and staying stopped, and- Yeah ...

I retired because I didn't wanna...

I had a great career.

I didn't wanna ruin my reputation.

Mm-hmm.

in the hospital.

Uh, what I didn't realize is that I didn't believe in a God and its name was spiritist and it came in a bottle and it was going to kill me.

And I probably might hurt other people too.

And at that point, I've been married to the same woman now for 25 years.

She stuck by me through the worst time of my life when the trauma of the war and all these as you get older and alcohol.

If you're an alcoholic, you metabolize alcohol differently.

I didn't realize that until I got into the program and started studying it.

Rand, during that time on the Appalachian Trail, Were there any particular spiritual experiences that come to mind?