Here I am joining another class, but with rock solid determination. My story is a long one, with lots of drinking, some periods of sobriety (which, by the way were the BEST times of my life) and tons of life lessons along the way. But what is important this time is that my best friend passed away two weeks ago, the absolute hardest loss of my life. I drowned my sadness in alcohol, telling myself she would understand, because she too had a drinking problem (that's not what led to her passing though). She was the only person with whom I have ever confided in and admitted my drinking problems to 100% (besides here on SR), as I knew she understood completely and held no judgment.
I know that she is watching over me and rooting for me to lead a sober life, as that is the only way for me to go to live happily and freely.
Last night, after a few beers, I handled a typical teenage situation with my daughter poorly- screaming and not making any sense. As a single mother, there is nothing more important than for me to be able to handle these situations calmly, rationally, and sober. It's hard enough as it is, without the fuel of alcohol making things worse.
Anyway, I am back to day one, and looking forward to being active on this board on others on SR. I know that we are each ultimately responsible for our own choices and behavior but I also know how well documented it is that a support system is also critical for success. Even though I have had some short periods of sobriety, I also have tons of empty promises to myself and out loud here on SR. They are embarrassing but I know that walking away from this board because of my failures would be the worst thing that I could do.
Any day is a great day to get sober, but a new month just seems to make it more official to me. So here we go, Happy July to all of us as we start with today, or any day this month to stay sober.