Tag: Early Sobriety

COVID 19 magnified cells

What a Time to Be Alive

Stranger Than Fiction I made it 1/4 of the way through Gabriel García Márquez’s novel Love in the Time of Cholera before I set my copy down never to return to it again. I mispronounced cholera for the duration of my time between those covers. The way I said it, ignorance sounded like ko-LEH-rah. I don’t do ...

Chocolate Christmas calendar

Chocolate Calenders

The first Christmas I spent entirely drunk was in Florida. Coincidentally, Florida was the last place I was drunk for the holidays. In 2013, I visited my twin and brother-in-law in Miami. I cornered her after I downed two vodka sodas to demand an explanation and an apology for why she never visited me. I ...

Picasso sketch of dove and face

Cent’Anni! (But I’ll take Two Years)

A traditional Italian toast–“Cent’Anni!”–blesses the toastee with wishes to live 100 years. I’ve walked this earth made from a colorful mixture of Italian, Scottish, English, German, Scottish and French stock, never having toasted much of anything (with the exception of my twin at her wedding. But not before I got into the champagne). I jumped ...

Women boxing

TKO.

HOLY WHAAAAAT. I am one year and one day sober. F^&$)?:@^{%~*<‘@!,;”#=+£€•}! Fuckity fuck fuck fuck. The most important thing I can say here (that is not an expletive) is thank you. Thank you to every single person who made themselves available to help me. Thank you to those who allowed me to be a part ...

Bowie holding a dog by its leash

360 Degrees of Separation

Today marks my 360th day of sobriety. Only 5 days stand between me and, well, just another standard issue, miracle-laced 24-hour period. All sorts of scary and wonderful thoughts have been coming to the surface lately. I am at once beaming with joy and terrified that I am accountable to a mystical and loving Higher ...

Divine winking

Humor in the Divine

I used to recoil at the thought or suggestion of meditation. I never gave much credence to time spent alone because the idea of me spending more time with myself than was necessary felt unbearable. I did not see the freedom in stillness, nor did I believe I could ever find spirituality within myself. I spent ...