AG Speaker Meeting D M. Jun. 16 2026

you, Barry, for asking me to speak.

I want to thank this home group.

This was my first home group, and everything that I do today is because you guys taught me that showing up, that's how I don't pick up a drink no matter what happens in my life.

My home group right now is the 7th and 9th Street Workshop.

My sobriety date is January 6, 2020, and I do service, and I try to help pretty much anyone that needs help or asks for my help.

Okay, I'm a little nervous, and I really do not want to be thinking about how I'm going to sound, but I just want to help anyone that for some reason was not able to stop drinking and just tell you that it is able, like I can, if I stop drinking anyone can stop drinking.

So, I grew up in a, you know, and one thing that I'm gonna say, I come, I'm from Brazil, my family, I never saw alcohol in my family, my parents didn't drink, my family was a little, you know, We had our problems.

There were good things, bad things.

But one thing that has helped me lately is to know that the reason why I am an alcoholic, it's not because of whatever happened to me in my past.

It's just because I love the way that I feel when I put a drink in my mouth.

I just love the way that it made me feel.

And I could not stop drinking once I started drinking.

You know, sometimes I could, but sometimes I didn't.

That's why I am an alcoholic.

And I think that we are in a time where we talk a lot about trauma and whatever, but for that I got sober and I was able to seek outside help for my outside issues.

But that's not why if I pick up a drink today, I don't know what's going to happen.

So, you know, I never drank until I was 20 or 21.

I was leaving Switzerland.

Everybody drank wine and It was just not my thing.

And then one day I drank and I blacked out and I was having a dinner party at home and the dessert went to the floor.

Everybody thought it was hilarious.

I thought it was hilarious.

And

I felt great.

I mean,