I traveled a lot for work. Sales job. Most weeks I was on the road a few days at a time. Over the years I got used to stopping for a drink after meetings or grabbing something from the minibar in the hotel. When I was home I kept a bottle out in the garage. I told myself it was just easier that way.
I honestly believed I was hiding it pretty well from my wife. I would go out to the garage for a few minutes, take a couple drinks, and come back inside like nothing had happened. In my mind it was under control.
One night my wife sat me down at the kitchen table and handed me a stack of papers. She had been writing down every time she found an empty bottle or noticed the level in the bottle out in the garage dropping. It went back about a month.
I remember flipping through the pages and realizing she knew more about my drinking than I did. Seeing it written down like that made it hard to argue.
That same night I went to an AA meeting for the first time.