Renvate

So tomorrow is my grandfather's 80th. He unfortunately has been an avid drinker all his life, and still is. He's expecting of course good company, good food and straight shots of cognac till the bottle/bottles are gone. That's been his tradition for all birthdays, and I of course was always the expected guest to join in.

Today I rang him and told that I won't be drinking with him. The silence from him was peircing as I am the only one who can make it this birthday that drinks (due to family being far far abroad).

So he's lost his drinking buddy.

So the plan is simple, Iam gonna celebrate sober.

I've encouraged him to have a sober one to celebrate his 80th but he is having none of it.

I actually out of all honesty don't want to drink, celebrations have never been to hard to stay sober at, it's the nights alone which are tempting.

18 days in, Wish me luck.

soberandhonest

Good luck. That's a bit of a tough spot. It's easy to say no thanks and even push back when someone gets pushy, but quite a lot harder when that someone is your 80-yo grandfather. In any event, stay strong and do not give in to whatever temptation or rationalization might cross your mind.

And happy birthday to your grandfather!

icandothis20

You got this renovate- good for giving him a heads up you wont be drinking!

biminiblue

I think he's a big boy, he'll do fine without a drinking buddy.

He will probably give you some grief for it, though. Be ready with your comebacks.

HB, Grandad!

Frank14

The silence indicates you haven't told him you've stopped drinking -permanently. He's your 80-year-old grandfather, so if you can't be honest with him, then who the heck can you be honest with?

Whether this was just inadvertent or not, your second point about being the "only one who can make it to his birthday that drinks" needs to be addressed. You don't drink, right?

Renvate

Ahh yes. Iam glad I acknowledged that typo before I got to your post, Frank. Thanks for picking up on it.

He knew I stopped, but he must of thought I wasn't serious.

Dee74

I drank with my Dad on social occasions. He was a little put out for a while when I quit but he got over it

D

Zanna

I'd be honest with him and then go all out to make an extra special fuss of him, make him feel all warm and glowy - he'll soon realise the sober you is wonderful to be around. Who knows, deep down he could have been worrying about you for a long time

Good luck!

GotTheBlues

Have you considered not going? I don't mean to be rude, but if you're not fully supported by everyone attending the party then you should chuck it.

I never knew my grandparents really, but I like to think they would have wanted the best for me.

Anyway, just a thought.

Renvate

It was a good celebration. We all drank our casual drinks, ofcourse gdad thought we were all not normal, but he enjoyed himself.

At one point I turned back to the table and there was a beer Infront of me, he quickly snuck it up on me.

I could of drank it. Infact, I wanted to drink it. But to watch all that work go down the drain over one beer? No thanks.

So I quickly gave it back.

Thanks for the bday wishes everyone.

And onto day 19 or 18.. lost count already lol.

badlands

Awesome Renvate!

SimplyFree

Nice job! Grandfathers can be insistent. My Grandfather fed me peppermint schnapps when I was around 8 yrs old. It smelled great but of course after drinking 4 oz or so....I got stomach ache. My mom showed up, took me to the car, then went back inside. I'm sure he got ripped a new one, but apparently he did that to all the grandkids. He was definitely did whatever he wanted.
I'm glad your sober days are continuing to grow!
Stay strong.

Brigitte

What a cheeky gramps you have there, haha! I'm not sure if the childhood memories of my grandmother getting drunk during Sunday lunch normalised alcoholism early in my life....but the inflated cask wine "balloon" we were allowed to play football with on the lawn as kids once it had been sucked dry may have played a part.... HAHA!

Im glad to hear that you remained focused and could resist the cold beer well within your reach! Well done

DangerZone

Good job man I knew you could do it.

In your post you said 'you wanted to drink it' careful with that thought. That's your AV talking.

You didn't want to drink it. Period. If you wanted to you would have.

Anyway Congratulations on almost 3-weeks. Lets beat this together.