A thousand miles away…. Seven thousand to be more exact. It’s hard when the one you do life with is so far away for so long a time. So far that when we look to the sky he sees the stars and I see the sun. So far that we can’t meet in our dreams Read More
Recovering Yourself
We’ve all been there before, some more often than others. For me, it was a constant cycle. Moving through the day in a fog, reacting instead of taking action. Willing time to pass so I could be finished with my daily obligations. Doing, saying, and expecting the bare minimum. And finally reaching the point where Read More
The Year I Barely Survived
It’s the time I still have trouble talking about, but feel the need to share. It’s a story of overcoming, and I hope it reaches the right person. I can write about it now, two and a half years later, because I can see the beauty that arose from the ashes. And I can bring Read More
Just One Life
When my life revolved around consuming wine, I spent much of it trying to untangle the knots I’d made the day before. An unraveling of sorts, with no forward progress. Stuck in a loop: Questioning what I had said or done, who I’d hurt or neglected, because drinking time was lost in the cloud. Apologizing Read More
What’s Working for Me
10 Months In… Today I am celebrating 10 months of alcohol-free living; the longest stretch of sobriety I’ve had since booze and I hooked up over 25 years ago. To be fair, our relationship wasn’t always constant or consistent, and for the past three years it was “on-again, off-again.” Yet, I finally feel like I’ve Read More
The Thing I Have
When I consider the before and after, I can readily see the depth and dimension that sobriety brings to my life. It opens my ears to listen to God and others around me. Ears to hear the need (not so much to listen to the book my daughter is learning to read but to give Read More
Quitting
In March 2016, I earnestly decided to quit drinking for the first time. I read Annie Grace’s This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol and it completely changed the way I viewed alcohol and the role it played in my life. I felt like I had been duped for the last 25 years: by society, by the Read More
A Small, Good Thing
When I think back to where I was this time a year ago, I am overwhelmed with gratitude at how far I’ve come, and awash in hope for the journey that continues. Last year, the pause between Christmas and the new year–the space that doesn’t serve much of a purpose except to catch your breath Read More
The Gift
It is amazing how cutting one thing out of your life–alcohol–can change it completely. And if you’re caught up in drinking, a changed life is a blessing. It’s not only changed in the sense that it’s different. Much of how you experience your life sober is the exact opposite of what you are used to. Read More