tromboneliness

But there's probably still that reserve of clarity available to call up, when the doc asks how much she drinks -- to put on the earnest face and solemnly swear that she hasn't had a drink in years -- sobriety is the only reason she's still alive, it's the most important thing, above all else!

My Dad could do that -- not that he'd claim to be 100% sober, but he'd tell the cardiologist that he just had an occasional drink now and then, like everyone else, certainly not to excess, because that's unhealthy, and he's much too smart to take bad care of himself like that, as is obvious to everyone who knows him, and that's how he's always been... etc., etc.

And then he'd sneak out of bed at midnight and make himself a(nother) Manhattan, spilling a lot of it on the floor wobbling back to his bedroom....

T