Summer
Today I am grateful for safe travels over the weekend and the enjoyable time with my stepson Arthur, his wife Alyssa and our grandson Aaron. I am grateful for the curiosity, joy, and energy that Aaron exudes.
As I return to my A-Z list, for the letter “s” I revisit thoughts of summer on this chilly winter morning. For me, the drinking milestone of getting sick (a.k.a. throwing up) for the first time was marked in July of 1981. I won a bet and some beer, and lost my cookies later.
I didn’t get sick often, but hangovers pretty much became a given. Later in my drinking career, there were a few times I made myself throw up at the end of a night of drinking, knowing I would feel better in the morning.
The other summer thought I am having brings in the song “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama. It was popular in 1984 and that was indeed a cruel summer for me. I turned 19 that July and my drinking was progressing, the downward spiral picking up speed. I knew in my heart that I had a problem. But I remained in denial and grew in self-hatred. I recall drinking as often as I could, sometimes getting a head start by having a couple beers from our basement fridge before going out.
My drinking wasn’t typical and neither was such behavior. By the summer of 1985, my first serious attempt at quitting drinking was underway. The summer of 1989 would be my last summer of drinking.
Now, I think of what summer represents and the analogies to recovery. New life. Warmth. Growth.
Blue skies. Plenty of light.
As I return to my A-Z list, for the letter “s” I revisit thoughts of summer on this chilly winter morning. For me, the drinking milestone of getting sick (a.k.a. throwing up) for the first time was marked in July of 1981. I won a bet and some beer, and lost my cookies later.
I didn’t get sick often, but hangovers pretty much became a given. Later in my drinking career, there were a few times I made myself throw up at the end of a night of drinking, knowing I would feel better in the morning.
The other summer thought I am having brings in the song “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama. It was popular in 1984 and that was indeed a cruel summer for me. I turned 19 that July and my drinking was progressing, the downward spiral picking up speed. I knew in my heart that I had a problem. But I remained in denial and grew in self-hatred. I recall drinking as often as I could, sometimes getting a head start by having a couple beers from our basement fridge before going out.
My drinking wasn’t typical and neither was such behavior. By the summer of 1985, my first serious attempt at quitting drinking was underway. The summer of 1989 would be my last summer of drinking.
Now, I think of what summer represents and the analogies to recovery. New life. Warmth. Growth.
Blue skies. Plenty of light.
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