A little story, so proud
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 4,251
A little story, so proud
I hope this will be inspirational to others as it has been for me.
First a bit of history, everyone, and I do mean everyone in my family is an alcoholic. Not raging, off the grid raving mad, but heavy, unhealthy drinkers.
My mother quit drinking 28 years ago. She decided to quit, had one last weekend and then never relapsed or touched alcohol again. Except for two times. Once she was in a restaurant and ordered a tonic water. After the waiter brought her her drink she took a sip and realized it was a gin and tonic! She immediately sent it back. The second time was just a few weeks ago. Her girlfriend was drinking some limoncello. She said that she thought of me in Italy (limoncello is Italian) and just randomly said to her girlfriend "let me have a sip" She said no sooner than it had hit her lips she immediately felt regret and as if she had thrown away 28 years of sobriety. She didn't take more than a sip though.
I am so proud of her and think she is amazingly strong. I don't think her "slip" with the limoncello was a real relapse, I think it was genuine curiosity but she immediately realized she was making a mistake and stopped. I will strive to be like her. She quit when my brother and I were similar ages of my children. I hope to be the mother than she was to me. Present, sober and loving.
First a bit of history, everyone, and I do mean everyone in my family is an alcoholic. Not raging, off the grid raving mad, but heavy, unhealthy drinkers.
My mother quit drinking 28 years ago. She decided to quit, had one last weekend and then never relapsed or touched alcohol again. Except for two times. Once she was in a restaurant and ordered a tonic water. After the waiter brought her her drink she took a sip and realized it was a gin and tonic! She immediately sent it back. The second time was just a few weeks ago. Her girlfriend was drinking some limoncello. She said that she thought of me in Italy (limoncello is Italian) and just randomly said to her girlfriend "let me have a sip" She said no sooner than it had hit her lips she immediately felt regret and as if she had thrown away 28 years of sobriety. She didn't take more than a sip though.
I am so proud of her and think she is amazingly strong. I don't think her "slip" with the limoncello was a real relapse, I think it was genuine curiosity but she immediately realized she was making a mistake and stopped. I will strive to be like her. She quit when my brother and I were similar ages of my children. I hope to be the mother than she was to me. Present, sober and loving.
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Deep South, US
Posts: 62
Thank you for sharing your story. My mother also went through treatment when my brother and I were young (ages 5&6). I think that we are doing the right thing, like our mothers, staying sober and present for our children
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 4,860
That was a nice story, Mera, and thank you for sharing. You're so right: You can be every bit the good mother to your kids that yours was to you.
Summon your grit, Mera. You can do this, just like your mother did. I know the last week has been hard. This isn't easy. If it were, there'd be no such thing as SR. Or AA, rehab, antabuse and the like. But this site is a testament to the doable, a life in sobriety and recovery. You can be part of it, too. If we could teleport ourselves to Italy, we'd tell you in person. (Heck, wouldn't that be great to teleport ourselves to Italy! For all its shortcomings in terms of views and services for people in recovery, it still must be a beautiful place!)
My own little anecdote: About eight or nine months into my sobriety, my boss brought a cake with chocolate sauce to work. She made some quip about "not telling anyone," to which I paid no attention and merrily went about eating the cake. (A rare treat for me these days, as I am losing weight. Thanks for nothin', wine.) It didn't occur to me until I was nearly done that the sauce really was sauce. I asked and sure enough, it contained kahlua.
So I had to decide whether to make a mountain of this molehill. Go into crisis mode over what? A teaspoon? A tablespoon?
I chose to view my sobriety as remaining intact, my recovery still deepening. When we keep our eyes on the prize, that focus feeds our grit.
Summon your grit, Mera. You can do this, just like your mother did. I know the last week has been hard. This isn't easy. If it were, there'd be no such thing as SR. Or AA, rehab, antabuse and the like. But this site is a testament to the doable, a life in sobriety and recovery. You can be part of it, too. If we could teleport ourselves to Italy, we'd tell you in person. (Heck, wouldn't that be great to teleport ourselves to Italy! For all its shortcomings in terms of views and services for people in recovery, it still must be a beautiful place!)
My own little anecdote: About eight or nine months into my sobriety, my boss brought a cake with chocolate sauce to work. She made some quip about "not telling anyone," to which I paid no attention and merrily went about eating the cake. (A rare treat for me these days, as I am losing weight. Thanks for nothin', wine.) It didn't occur to me until I was nearly done that the sauce really was sauce. I asked and sure enough, it contained kahlua.
So I had to decide whether to make a mountain of this molehill. Go into crisis mode over what? A teaspoon? A tablespoon?
I chose to view my sobriety as remaining intact, my recovery still deepening. When we keep our eyes on the prize, that focus feeds our grit.
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