Not an alcoholic myself, but recently became romantically involved with someone who turned out to be. The romance didn’t last, but the friendship did, and he’s about 3 months sober now. Not as great an accomplishment as 20 years, but it’s the longest he’s ever been sober “on purpose” i.e. not in jail.
My heart dropped when he showed up at my friend’s kegger on St. Paddy’s Day, but the can in his hand turned out be Red Bull and he just wanted to stop by for a minute to enjoy the food and music.
So, having watched from an outsider’s perspective how hard it is to stay sober (and being completely unable to fathom that kind of strength), my hat goes off to you!
Congrats - Your sober life has not been an easy one - some people get to stop drinking and have relatively stress free lives - and staying sober isn’t easy. Your life has been…dramatic, and that must have made it all the more difficult to stay sober.
I grew up around addiction and alcoholism. When my dad got sober, I spent a lot of my time at the Alano club with him. Eventually I became a volunteer.
Mickey B. used to say that his fondest wish was to be an old fart in AA. Mine, too.
Dr. Paul (his story is in the book) talked about his AA/Alanon marriage and told folks bluntly that young people today just didn’t have what it takes to be married 40+ years. For starters, you have to be really old! Same could be said for long-term sobriety.
This is what I tell my girls- just don’t drink and don’t die. Anything else, we can work on.
