Absolutely Insist on Enjoying Life

Hello! My name is James Kuczykowski, aka “Uncle Jimmy”. I grew up in a blue-collar, steel-mill working community of about 6,000 souls and was raised by two God-loving parents in the Catholic religion so attended Catholic schools all my life. I  enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1980 and was discharged honorably in 1984. My time in the service is of happy memories as is my childhood. I had two older brothers and an older sister. At age 14, I was attracted to the spirit of “high times” that saturated the atmosphere and so entered the world of sex, drugs, and rock n roll. I remained a “Party boy” until the age of 35 in 1996 when I entered the great fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous(AA) with an old friend who took me to my first AA Meeting  I had a chance encounter with 6 months prior, at, of all places, a cocktail lounge.

I consider myself to be a “Turtle on a chair”. If you see a “Turtle on a chair”, know for certain it got help getting there. I am a grateful recovered alcoholic today because of so many loving people in the fellowship of AA who encircled me and took me under their wings, so to speak. I continue to attend AA meetings mostly because going to meetings helps me stay sober and there is so much joy in living AA Spirituality, which is in a nutshell,, “Trust God, Clean house, and help others”. When anyone ever reaches out for help, I sincerely desire to be of help to them.  I want to give back what was so freely given to me.