Never, never, never forget that we are different. We cannot live like others. Our difference is this: We cannot drink alcohol.
An Alcoholic

One of my earliest memories of comedy involved an aging vaudevillian named Mr. Pastry. With amazing dexterity and comic timing, Mr. Pastry performed "The Passing-Out Ceremony" on "The Ed Sullivan Show." While music played, Mr. Pastry acted out a group of men drinking, dancing, and cavorting until they passed out. Our family laughed and laughed at this act. On vacation we mimed our way to the resort dining hall, acting like a tipsy Mr. Pastry.

But when you think about it, drunkenness isn't all that funny. Consider these facts:

• An estimated ten million Americans suffer from alcoholism, about 4 percent of the population, one in twenty-five.

• If each of these has about four family members or close friends affected by that alcoholism, another forty million Americans are deeply affected (making fifty million, about one-fifth ...