When New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia publicly announced that he was an alcoholic and that he was entering rehab, a lot of thoughts ran through my mind. Empathy mostly…for I am an alcoholic, too.

I wish him the best. No doubt, going to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings will be a part of his routine in rehab, and I hope he realizes that his recovery–and his life–will depend on continued maintenance and vigilance. The program of Alcoholics Anonymous is simple, but it isn’t easy. It requires working the 12 Steps, the cornerstone of which is honesty, something most alcoholics know nothing about. But we’re told to “keep coming back,” and to get a sponsor…a guide of sorts for the journey ahead. Even that goes against the grain of alcoholics, most of whom are stubborn and not at all accustomed to asking for help.

I’ve been sober for a little more than four years, and that’s because I go to a lot of AA meetings. While I was never court-ordered to go, I didn’t enjoy it at first. I felt I had nothing in common with ‘those people,’ but I kept going back so that my husband would get off my back and see that I was trying to stop drinking, something I’d been doing since I was fourteen years old.

It wasn’t long before I realized that I was amongst people who really, really understood me. They knew why one drink was too many and a hundred drinks weren’t enough. It was almost comforting to know that there were others who were as crazy as I was!  I finally had found my tribe.

Alcoholism is a disease that is devastating to not only the one who is sick, but the people who are closest to them. It’s incurable and it can be fatal, but thank God it’s treatable. One day at a time.