These cautionary tales have a way of showing up when I need them. Not that I'm in real danger of drinking, but I've been feeling -- I don't know -- less than solid for a couple of weeks now. Life is stressful and the thought of that relaxation that used to come with a drink or two seems like a nice idea now and then. But I remind myself that's fleeting, and never actually works anyway. I also remind myself that I was 100% headed for real disaster of some sort if I had not quit when I did. Things were bad enough as it was (DUI's, losing friends, wrecked a relationship or two, pretty much hated myself), but it definitely easily could have been much much worse.
Someone in my immediate circle (my boyfriend's SIL) is in a really really bad place with alcohol right now. We can't seem to reach her. She's in complete denial, even after having gone to inpatient treatment. She WILL die if she doesn't stop, soon. It's so heartbreaking to watch her light go out, slowly and inexorably. Her husband is about to leave her. She can't hold a job, has no other family or friends to support her. She will end up homeless and destitute, then she will die. UNLESS she can right the ship.