"Since I got sober, I am somewhat slower to react to provocations and challenges; I have developed the capacity to take a breath instead of losing my shit."
Thanks for sharing your story Laurie! I am immune compromised after a butcher surgeon nicked my spleen and had to remove it. So attending meetings isn’t possible for me anymore. So it was great to be able to read your story…for me it was like an AA meeting making me feel I am not alone. I made so many really bad decisions when I was drinking that I ended up with PTSD. The result is there are times when I do lose my shit (mostly in private) but I am learning how to stop my ptsd from making me act out in unacceptable ways. Being and staying sober saved my life. I am grateful!
What a sweet soul she is. Just so proud of her. My 21 year old stepson Ian got sober four years ago after he’d gone off the rails when his mom died and he says “The sober life is the doper life.”
It’s wild how I still miss Bourdain so goddamn much. Still feels like a gut punch, that he’s gone. I always remember him sitting down with a family in Palestine 🇵🇸 and how he understood what Nelson Mandela had seen there and what Malcolm X had seen there- that none of us will be free until Palestine is free. And part of me is relieved that Tony didn’t have to live through the ongoing genocide of Palestine. That for him, those families who hosted him are still gathering and sharing and offering their love to him through a meal.
Reading this, I understood what all she had gone through. I did the same, only quitting about 30 years ago after being lost in the Wyoming Wilderness for a better part of a day. It gave me lots of time for reflection. Here's to you Laurie, it's a journey for sure. Congratulations!
I loved hearing about your recovery! I’ve been sober a long time and the benefits vastly outweigh the drawbacks and yet every once in a while there is that desire for a quick mood change.
Thanks for sharing your story Laurie. I identified with much of it. Had I not met an AA member when I was 24 and gotten sober with the help of the 12 step program, I am certain I would have died young. Reading your story made me feel connected to your experience, strength and hope!! I start my day today feeling uplifted … I am not alone! 🙂
Laurie - I'm truely old enough to know better at 83-3/4 and have been drug free for over 30 years now. Drinking was my reward for what I felt was a job well done, after deadlines, as editor and publisher of a weekly newspaper. Some way a tree got in front of my car after leaving a bar one night, and that was my wakeup call. That also made me change everything. The weekly became a monthly, newspaper format changed to magazine tabloid design and now the publication is starting our 38 year. Also anytime now I expect it to become an instant success. Anyway, one of the columns I write is called "The Old Fart" and it has become a column that if I leave it out some month, I hear about it loud and clear by readers. I also have a page going on Substack here called "Yooperville Sunday Report." Yoopers are people who live in the Upper Peninsula, at the very top of Michigan. Anyway I am writing to you, asking if I may pick up, now and then, items, as a guest of the Old Fart, to reprint from your Olster, with full credit to you and your Substacks columns. We have used items from a few others with their permission. - Mike VDB, UP Magazine / Porcupine Press Press. mikee@upmag.net
Thanks for sharing your story Laurie! I am immune compromised after a butcher surgeon nicked my spleen and had to remove it. So attending meetings isn’t possible for me anymore. So it was great to be able to read your story…for me it was like an AA meeting making me feel I am not alone. I made so many really bad decisions when I was drinking that I ended up with PTSD. The result is there are times when I do lose my shit (mostly in private) but I am learning how to stop my ptsd from making me act out in unacceptable ways. Being and staying sober saved my life. I am grateful!
There are MANY online meetings. I'll be attending one in about 20 minutes.
Thanks Warren, I will research what online AA meeting are available in Ontario’
What a sweet soul she is. Just so proud of her. My 21 year old stepson Ian got sober four years ago after he’d gone off the rails when his mom died and he says “The sober life is the doper life.”
It’s wild how I still miss Bourdain so goddamn much. Still feels like a gut punch, that he’s gone. I always remember him sitting down with a family in Palestine 🇵🇸 and how he understood what Nelson Mandela had seen there and what Malcolm X had seen there- that none of us will be free until Palestine is free. And part of me is relieved that Tony didn’t have to live through the ongoing genocide of Palestine. That for him, those families who hosted him are still gathering and sharing and offering their love to him through a meal.
If my obituary was nothing more than “affable shit-stirrer”, I’d call that a life win.
What a great description! Must dig deeper there now.
Reading this, I understood what all she had gone through. I did the same, only quitting about 30 years ago after being lost in the Wyoming Wilderness for a better part of a day. It gave me lots of time for reflection. Here's to you Laurie, it's a journey for sure. Congratulations!
I loved hearing about your recovery! I’ve been sober a long time and the benefits vastly outweigh the drawbacks and yet every once in a while there is that desire for a quick mood change.
Thanks for sharing your story Laurie. I identified with much of it. Had I not met an AA member when I was 24 and gotten sober with the help of the 12 step program, I am certain I would have died young. Reading your story made me feel connected to your experience, strength and hope!! I start my day today feeling uplifted … I am not alone! 🙂
Laurie - I'm truely old enough to know better at 83-3/4 and have been drug free for over 30 years now. Drinking was my reward for what I felt was a job well done, after deadlines, as editor and publisher of a weekly newspaper. Some way a tree got in front of my car after leaving a bar one night, and that was my wakeup call. That also made me change everything. The weekly became a monthly, newspaper format changed to magazine tabloid design and now the publication is starting our 38 year. Also anytime now I expect it to become an instant success. Anyway, one of the columns I write is called "The Old Fart" and it has become a column that if I leave it out some month, I hear about it loud and clear by readers. I also have a page going on Substack here called "Yooperville Sunday Report." Yoopers are people who live in the Upper Peninsula, at the very top of Michigan. Anyway I am writing to you, asking if I may pick up, now and then, items, as a guest of the Old Fart, to reprint from your Olster, with full credit to you and your Substacks columns. We have used items from a few others with their permission. - Mike VDB, UP Magazine / Porcupine Press Press. mikee@upmag.net
Hi, Michael! I’m the person behind Oldster. I’ll drop you a line about reprinting rights, etc.
I just saw that my keyboard added an extra "e" to my email address. It should be:
mike@upmag.net
Got it.
Lauri, as a 71 year old, sober for 16 years in AA, I appreciate your “coming out” and sharing your experience.
I've been meaning to order the book! Kismet. Congratulations on working hard every single day and committing to a healthier life!