The woman leaning over is telling the woman in the black hat, “I have always HATED you.” So I was doing the ladies-who-lunch thing a few weeks ago. I haven’t done that in a while. In the old days it involved drinking 2 1/2 glasses of Chardonnay (the 1/2 being someone’s suggestion to, “Share one […]
Category Archives: Sobriety
Where the Wild Things Are… When I first moved to Florida, I lived in a pristine, gated community.The streets were vacuumed, the palmettos pruned, the bordering golf course fairways were green and flat as pool-table felt. Even the alligators were culled when they got big enough to threaten lapdogs; trussed up in duct tape and removed to […]
In my spare time, I like to sit on the lawns of my friends and contemplate bridges. You? A few years ago I got the cockamamie idea I should sign up for one of those on-line dating sites. I had the notion I was meeting the wrong types of men on remote islands in The Bahamas, […]
Blonde hair, AND the yen for alcohol? (Actually these two are not problem drinkers, and only one of them is my child, but I like the picture). Do you remember the old National Enquirer commercial? “Enquiring minds want to know!” That’s me – and sometimes I still wonder why I became an alcoholic. I […]
13
Apr
Apr
This is the faux Chihuly from my condo, not a fixture in a casino, but you get the picture… I have an addictive personality, but I have never been tempted to gamble. I don’t understand the rules of the games, and I hate casinos. Mind you, I haven’t been to a gambling establishment since I’ve been sober, […]
Since I got back from Georgia, I have been staying with Kim and Claudio. I call it “Promises Jacksonville” as a joke to myself. Their home is in a beautiful setting, I am encouraged to exercise and eat right and there is a feeling of welcome and nonjudgmental caring so profound it could be a rehab center, […]
09
Apr
Apr
This may sound insane coming from someone who tells her “One time, I ended up knee deep…” stories, but I am impressed and awed by the people I know who get sober quietly. Yesterday I got a Facebook message from an old friend who said, “I’m 30 days sober today. I’ve been going […]
08
Apr
Apr
Painting by Christy Thom When I was little, I was privy to what happens when two strong, articulate people divorce badly. At a time when it was “not done” my Nana and Grandpa Howard severed their marriage. For the rest of their lives, they voiced (with hilarious vitriol) the wrongs each other had committed. Even […]
07
Apr
Apr
(I knew those obsessive selfies would come in handy…) I don’t know where I’ve been, but I did not know there were three distinct stages of alcoholism. I have intuitively known that alcoholics end up alone in a dark garage, or in jail, or rehab, but it wasn’t until I had a conversation with a […]
06
Apr
Apr
Calm waters, but what lies beneath? I spent Easter weekend in a place where you might hear someone say the words, “Don’t get gator bit.” This colloquial phrase is not a cautionary cliché like, “Don’t take any wooden nickels.” It is not a metaphor. It actually means: be careful not to get mauled and […]