Walking on the beach in Ireland...it sounds like Heaven on Earth to this native Californian. I was there for a week once, and it was such a beautiful place. My husband and I talk of taking a trip there someday, after we are done with paying for college and all of the other crazy expenses that come with being a parent. It seems like a million years away.
I think we sometimes forget how fortunate we are, each in our own way. I have the sunshine, I live near the beach, I can be in the mountains in an hour, in Hollywood in twenty minutes, Disneyland in fifteen, in Palm Springs in two and a half hours, San Francisco in seven. Within driving distance are endless amusements, interesting places, fun ways to pass the time. And I take it all for granted. How many people pay lots of their hard earned money to get to where I live, or where you are staying with your Grandma?
The funny thing is that I used to despair about what I would do with myself when I stopped drinking. It seems ridiculous now. I'm glad that you're getting your sobriety back in hand. Life is too short to waste it in a haze of alcohol, or ill,or depressed as a result of our addiction. Thank God I realized this before I had wasted all of my life in such a state. I guess we all have a lot to be grateful for.