Thread: Wine Whine
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Old 10-15-2013, 02:23 PM
  # 7 (permalink)  
MiSoberbio
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Posts: 124
It is a very grey area, because you are in the space between his recovery and your own. It's where his issues and your issues overlap, and it's near impossible to say that leaving the wine or removing the wine is the best decision (in my opinion). On the one hand, I totally agree with Pinkdog – I believe that no one coming from a relatively short-term rehab should have substances at such close proximity. But if I think about how I tried to keep my ex-partner from consuming, how I warned his family when we were visiting so that they could hide the alcohol, and how angry I got at them when they didn't do so; or how, when I would walk down the street with him and I smelled the odor of marijuana in the air, my heart would race and I'd watch his every move like a hawk; or how I had to throw out perfectly useful glue for fear that I'd see him huffing in the bathroom again ---- I want to throw up when I think about how I became so controlling, so fearful, and so damn CRAZY.

Then there's the issue that he specifically requested that his wine collection be left untouched. I have to be honest here: in my experience, that's a description of an addict who is nowhere near ready to live in recovery, particularly since he's even said that he's not sure if he's going to stop drinking alcohol. [I'm sure there are those who will argue that they used to have severe substance addiction problems but now enjoy an occasional glass of wine, or a beer, or a little pot, etc. That's fine, but with my ex-partner that was simply impossible, and so I'm speaking from my personal experience.] So then, what does this wine collection represent to him? I see it as an extension of his addiction, and so it's up to him to deal with it, otherwise you will be locked into the codependent dance of making the world right for him, and that, my friend, is another impossibility.

If he wants to consume substances, he will do so. You'll see that as fact if you read through the thousands of threads here. If he doesn't view the wine collection as a threat to his sobriety, then that's the path he wants to walk down. So, where does that leave YOU? How do you want to live YOUR life? I wish I could tell you something that would make all these questions and this confusion go away in your life, but that's not the reality that any of us live in. And accepting reality is the key to recovery, for both him and for you.

(again, in my opinion)
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