Two years. Twenty-four months. Seven hundred thirty days. Today is my second soberthday. A year ago, I wrote about what my first sober year meant – how I struggled to identify the right way mark the occasion and celebrate it. This year, I am reflecting on everything I have learned over the last 24 months […]
You know that feeling when something is clearly bothering you but you haven’t identified what it is? When you have zero patience and no ability whatsoever to tolerate the sound of anyone’s voice talking to you? When you feel nauseous, your head throbs as if it’s about to explode, and your eyes just start crying? […]
It’s here! The last day of 2016. If we judge by what we’ve been seeing on social media for weeks, today is a day eagerly anticipated by so very many people, those who can’t wait to kick this year out the door with the hope 2017 will be better. Even before I got sober, one […]
Facebook’s “On This Day” feature has been slaying me lately – so many great reminders of times with family and friends, funny things the kids said back when their voices were tiny and cute, and sad memories of tragic events. While unrelated to death or devastation, today’s post from six years ago has really jolted […]
Last night on the way to hockey practice, my son dropped a bomb. We hadn’t even pulled out of the driveway yet. “Mom, today in health class, we talked about alcoholism,” he said. My son is 12 years old and in seventh grade. I had been wondering when this might come up. Was I ready? […]
University of North Carolina senior Ashton Katherine Carrick recently defined the “aspirational blackout” as “intentionally drinking with the goal of submersing yourself in so much alcohol that you can’t remember what happened and the only vestiges that remain from the night before are the videos on your friends’ phones.” Carrick’s identification of stress as the […]
I completely shocked myself this morning. While I have become increasingly vocal in sobriety, my voice still lives mostly in my writing. Unless, of course, I’m barking orders at my family. Or presenting strategy to clients. In groups of other parents, I tend to sponge up what everyone is saying, bite my tongue if I […]
Three weeks ago, I wasn’t sure I’d survive the craziness of my upcoming week. But I did. Not only did I survive, but I passed with flying colors. There were so many tests, not only those I had prepared for but also a whole host of others I never even saw coming. As I emerged […]
Monday marked an anniversary I haven’t thought about in a while. On March 21, 2014, I woke up after a night of drinking from which I thought I’d never mentally recover. More embarrassing than any other. Ever. Ever, ever, ever. Well, as much as I can recall anyway. “I drank my face off,” was what I […]